Why Time Travel Should Be Illegal and Other Morals
by mugglesftw
Summary: Ever dream of ending up in your favorite book? Think that sounds pretty awesome? Well you're wrong. Time travel sucks, alternate dimensions suck, and trying to raise young wizards without getting yourself killed and accidentally letting the bad guys win really sucks. But getting to give a kid the childhood he needs? Well, that just might make it worth it.
1. Chapter 1

Sitting in a child welfare office isn't exactly my idea of a good time, but then again, it was for a good cause. The boy next to me was peering at the papers in his hands anxiously, as if looking at them hard enough would change the numbers.

"It'll be OK kiddo," I told him. "You're not going back no matter what happens."

The kid nodded, still not taking his eyes off the papers. I glanced at my watch and frowned. "Where is this lady?"

The door opened and a woman stepped in, her hands full of more paperwork that she was going through. "Sorry about that, urgent call. Now, Mr. Murphy, since you're not a citizen of the United Kingdom this will be a bit sticky, but-"

She woman looked up from her papers at me and the kid and froze.

"Uh, ma'am?" I said, glancing at the desk. "Ms. Macnair? I know I'm not a citizen of the UK, but I do have a steady job and more importantly Harry here knows and trusts me. I've got the references from-"

The papers slid out of the social workers hands all over the floor. "Sweet Merlin," she whispered. "It's Harry Potter."

I shared a look with Harry, who was just as perplexed as I was. "Yeah, I know. It's on the paperwork, surely you read our names? David Murphy, prospective foster parent, and Harry Potter, prospective foster child?"

"I knew, but I didn't think...not the Harry Potter…"

I frowned, standing and putting myself between Macnair and Harry. I'm not tall, so I was only about the same height as the social worker since she was in heels. "Harry, we've gotta go. Now." I put my arm out, ushering the kid towards the door.

"Mr M?" Harry said, his voice suddenly full of fear.

Macnair made a sudden motion and I lept forward, slamming her against the wall. "You reach for a wand and I break your neck," I hissed. "No magic. You try any of that crap on me and-"

"I've no magic!" Macnair squeaked. "Please, I'm sorry, I don't, I didn't…" she trailed off into dry sobs.

I stepped back, grabbing Harry and opening the door. "We're going now. I'm filing a complaint with your supervisor." I wasn't, I was going to get the hell out of England. Christ, I should have grabbed the kid and booked a flight for the states the moment I realized what the hell was going on. At least there I was on my home turf. Sort of.

"No, don't!" Macnair jerked upright, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry, look, I haven't broken the Statue, you don't need to tell the Ministry! I didn't mean to insult you sir, I'm just a squib!"

"Mr. M?" Harry said again, his voice full of panic.

I paused, doing some mental inventorying. Macnair...Macnair….I blinked. "You got a cousin named Walden?" I asked.

"Walden...Walden is my older brother. If he knew where I was…" She trailed off, swallowing and tucking some of her dark blonde hair behind her ear. "Look, please don't tell my supervisor. I'll get you another caseworker. Please, don't kill me or any of my coworkers! I've tried to avoid all of this, I've stayed hidden. My mother put me up for adoption years ago. If my brother or father knew I was still alive, they'd murder me and anyone close to me."

Slowly, I brought Harry back inside and closed the door. "Look, Ms. Macnair, I'm going to be honest. I ain't got any magic. Well, not that I know of at any rate. I'm just a teacher who found an abused kid in his class who needs a home." And, you know, someone who was way the hell in over his head because he wandered into a goddamned children's novel. I looked down at Harry, his eyes wide with fright, his lighting bolt scar red against his bloodless skin. "And, you know, someone who would like Harry and you not to die the next time a bunch of Klan wannabes dress up in their masks and robes and go muggle baiting. So maybe we just all sit down, lay our cards on the table, and pretend this is just a normal foster situation, OK?"

Macnair nodded slowly, then glanced around the office nervously. It was small and cramped, full of too much paper work and tacky posters of children looking happy about being adopted. "Please, sit down. Tell me what's going on, and why an American muggle wants to foster Harry Potter."

I let out a heavy sigh. "You are not going to freaking believe this. You got a couple of hours?"

Macnair smiled nervously. "You were my last appointment of the day. I was going to take the afternoon off since I"m going on vacation tomorrow. I suppose I have some time."

"Are you going to tell her the truth, Mr. M?" Harry asked, clinging to my leg like a limpet.

I sighed and picked the kid up, setting him on my lap as I sat down in the cheap plastic chair. He was getting a bit big for that, but right now he needed comfort, and I was pretty damn sure he'd never gotten enough physical contact with a loving caretaker when he was little. "What did I tell you about the truth kid?"

"'The Truth will set you free,'" Harry quoted.

I nodded, looking into Macnair's eyes. "Damn right. So that's what Ms. Macnair here is going to get. The truth. Sit down, ma'am. This is one hell of a yarn. Hoo boy. Not sure even I believe it, and I lived it. It all started about four months ago…."

/\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

I had woken up in a strange bed. This, in and of itself, was to be expected. After all, it was summer vacation, and I'd flown back to the mainland to visit my folks over the summer. Some people would say I was crazy for leaving Hawaii in June to visit Phoenix Arizona in the month of June. They would probably be right, but I loved my parents, and my grandparents weren't doing too well and I wanted to see them while I still could.

I groaned and rolled over, stepping out of bed and yawning. It took me a moment to realize that the room wasn't the guest bedroom in my parents house. I frowned, but it wasn't time to start panicking yet. I recognized a hotel room, and when I looked around I saw my things. I supposed I'd checked into a hotel. Oh right, Charles was staying over at my parents, I must have just been so tired I'd fallen asleep in the car when he took me to a hotel. I scratched myself and reached for my bag a nice maroon suitcase my parents had bought for me years ago, and got out a change of clothes. I stepped into the bathroom and showered and changed.

Bracing myself for the early morning Phoenix heat, I stepped outside the hotel room. I looked around, and my stomach did a flip. Ok, now it was time to start panicking. I was not in Phoenix. My astute powers of observation determined this because not only was a gentle rain falling in June, but the buildings were all wrong. No stucco, no adobe, but lots of wood and brick. I dashed back inside and dug around for my smart phone. No dice. In fact, when I reached into my pocket and dug out my wallet, a passport fell out. I frowned and reached down to grab it. I had left my passport back in Hawaii since I hadn't been planning to go out of the country.

When I held the passport, my heart did another flip flop. This wasn't my passport; it looked like something from the last century. I opened it and read the bio. Murphy, David, date of birth April 11, 1958. I did a double take. "1958?!" I exclaimed. "What the hell? That's 31 years too soon!" The rest of the information was right, with my place of birth and State of Issue. I flipped to the back of the passport and scanned it. A stamp for entry into the UK, July 8th, 1986 at Heathrow International Airport.

I sat down, trying to piece together what was going on. After a moment, I dug through my bags, my heart beating fast. I found an envelope with some papers in it and dug through them one caught my eye.

"Dear Mr. Murphy,

We are pleased to accept your application as a Year 1 teacher at Saint Gregory's Primary School. New teachers are to report to their campus on July the 14th for orientation and training.

C. Roemmele, Headmistress."

There was some other stuff, directions, my work visa, and various important documents, but the letter held the most interest for me. I did a quick inventory of what I had, and found some clothes, money, and a bank card stamped "HSBC." Grabbing whatever looked important and the room key, I hurried down to the hotel lobby.

The attendant looked up at me and smiled. "Hello sir, need anything?"

"Yeah, a paper and maybe advice on where to get something to eat?"

"Of course sir, we provide a complimentary breakfast in the lounge. Papers should be in there as well. It's right over there."

"Thanks." I decided not to ask any questions that would make me look stark raving mad, and hurried into the lounge where there was a decent breakfast spread and some papers. Grabbing a piece of fruit, I sat down and quickly read through the paper. There was a lot of stuff I didn't really get since it was all about British goings on, which frankly I was pretty uninformed on even if it had been the right year and not 20 odd years in the past. So, basically, the paper was zero help. I went back up to my room and dug around some more. I had a calendar with some appointments on it, mostly with the school and a realtor.

I sat down and took a deep breath. OK. So, it was July, 1986, three years before I was even born and a whole damn ocean away. I had some money and a bank card and apparently a job teaching year 1 kids. I had taught K-5 for a few years, so hopefully year one kids fell somewhere in that range since I remembered the UK used some crazy system that did not correlate to US grades.

I needed a plan, so I made one. First I got down on my knees and prayed, hard. I might have cried a little, but only Jesus saw that so my manly honor was intact. Then I went to the bank with my shiney new bank card. The teller was happy to show my my balance, which was a respectable 4291.83 which was more in dollars but God help me if I could figure out 1986 exchange rates to 2017 exchange rates in my head and I sure wasn't asking the teller. I just thanked God there were no shillings to deal with because frankly my head would have exploded. The last thing I did was call the realtor and confirm the appointments and properties. I talked to the clerk, who was happy to review my itinerary. I played the part of the idiot American hard and it mostly worked.

After all that though, it was only noon, so I went and got something to eat. There was a little pub nearby and I went with a comforting fish and chips along with a nice sugary soda.

While I ate, my mind raced. Suddenly it dawned on me. I groaned and rested my head on the table.

"Christ, now I have to prevent 9/11!"

Look, if you don't know what that is, either I succeeded and it's after 2001, or, you know, it's before 2001 and if you're reading this, tell the US Government that some Al Qaeda terrorists are going to fly two planes into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon, and United 93 was a fourth flight but it was stopped from crashing into a national monument by its brave passengers. This all happens the morning of September 11th, 2001, and a lot of Americans die. Oh, and bet on the Diamondbacks to win the win the world series that year, they win all their home games and lose all their away games. Trust me on that.

Unless you're a Death Eater. Then you can go kill yourself please. Oh, right, the Death Eaters. I'm getting there, honest.

Anyway, I'll skip the heart pounding terror of that night, the next day where I met Catherine (Mrs. Roemmele) and got trained on how to teach UK kiddos. (turns out year one is kindergarten, the English just didn't feel like stealing a perfectly good German word and went with something more boring). Essentially I spent the rest of my summer getting moved into a flat, prepping my classroom, wishing that the internet was still a thing, daydreaming about acquiring a blue party hat in Runescape when it came out, and realizing that I now basically had precinct knowledge of the stock market and gleefully getting a stock broker to invest everything I had into Microsoft and Apple despite him trying to convince me to invest in more traditional options. I decided not to tell him that I planned on invested an enormous quantity of cash into Magic the Gathering cards and making out like a bandit in 20 years.

OK, so maybe time travel wasn't all bad: I now had the chance to become filthy stinking rich. Sadly, the only major sporting events I had any recollection of were pretty far in the future and I was fuzzy on the details anyway, but hey, at least I could play the stock market like a pro. Still, I missed my parents (I did not look them up, they were barely married and I was a bit worried about erasing myself from existence if I fiddled with that) and my friends, and my old students, and living in Hawaii at my dream job teaching Special Education K-5 in a small town. The good news was no one knew me and I didn't know anyone so I fit in pretty well. I started going to a small church, made a few friends at a local hobby store, and generally settled down into life.

And then I got my class list and I just about had a heart attack.

You see, there were two names on that list that just about made me flip my lid. The first was Dudley Dursley. That made me swallow a bit of Mars bar wrong and I just about choked to death before I calmed down. I told myself that Dursley was probably a real name, and that while Dudley was a bit out there, it couldn't be that unusual. This was a kid in my class, not some character from a book. Right? And then I saw the other name. Harry Potter. I said a few things that I won't repeat, but suffice to say I was a bit of a potty mouth. Once I was done with that, I forced myself to calm down.

"I bet they're not even cousins," I consoled myself. "I mean, come on. Magic isn't real." Said the guy 31 years in his past in a country he'd visited once in high school.

So, school started. And I met Harry.

OK, let me back up a bit. I had first met Harry Potter in the early 2000s in the form of a children's book series. Despite the fact that I was a prolific reader, I did not read Harry Potter until after the fourth book came out because I came from an Evangelical Christian family and reading about Harry Potter was frowned upon. I did, however, read Tolkien, CS Lewis, and Ursula Le Guin, so my mom and dad decided that I could handle Harry Potter.

Right, so, Harry Potter was a book series written by a woman in the UK named JK Rowling. It was an international hit, seven books covering Harry Potter's life at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was so popular that they even made eight movies (yes, seven books, eight movies, it started an awful trend I don't want to go into right now) and then did a spin off series and a really bad Broadway show that I hope to God turns out to be a bunch of fiction but then again I'm meddling in things so who the hell knows. Anywho, Harry Potter in the books was described as being scrawny, having a lightning bolt scar on his forehead, black hair, green eyes, and glasses.

So when on September 1st, a scrawny, lighting scared, black haired, green eyed bespectacled boy showed up in my classroom, I had to work very hard not to have a panic attack. Thankfully, on the first day of school, most year one teachers are half a step from a panic attack as children cry for their parents, wet themselves, fight with one another, complain about being hungry, and are generally typical five year olds. I tried not to pay special attention to Harry, but I couldn't help it. I mean, here was this kid who was supposed to be some sort of chosen one destined to a dark and terrible fate, and he was sitting in my class singing "Down by the Bay." Hey, at least Raffi was really popular in the 80s so no one looked at me funny. I was gonna have to be real careful about what Disney songs I sang at circle time though.

But I digress. When school was over, an annoyed looking woman with a pinched face swept Dudley up in her arms and kissed him, then came over to me. Harry trailed behind, looking nervous.

"Hello, you must be Dudley's mother," I said, holding out my hand. "David Murphy. Kids call me Mr. M."

"Petunia Dursley, I'm Dudley's mother," she said, shaking my hand.

I forced a smile onto my face, and prayed that what I recalled from the books was wrong, because I freaking hate child abusers. "And Harry's aunt, right? You're his guardian?"

Petunia made a face. "Oh, Harry wasn't misbehaving was he? He's always lying and stealing at home, don't unnatural-"

"Mrs. Dursley, Harry was an exemplary student today," I interrupted. "You should be proud of him. He followed directions, and he even got to clip up to the top of our rainbow today," I pointed to a chart with clothespins that had the kids names and pictures on them; Harry's name was on purple with a couple of other students. I smiled at Harry, who immediately brightened and smiled back, his green eyes sparkling.

Petunia narrowed her eyes when she looked at the chart. "Duddles is bellow Harry."

"Oh, Dudley had a fine first day; he's on blue which is very good. Getting to move up to purple is only when we have our very best days. Harry remembered to put away his crayons after art time; Dudley needed a reminder. Both your sons did very well."

"Harry is no son of mine," Petunia snapped, turning to glare at me.

I put up my hands in a calming gesture. "Sorry, your nephew." I knelt down to get eye to eye with Dudley and Harry. "Great job today guys, hi five. I know we're going to have a great day tomorrow!"

Dudley sulked a bit, but hi fived me anyway. Harry on the other hand was very enthusiastic, slapping my hand and giggling a bit.

"Hmph. Well, if you have any trouble with Harry, make sure to use a firm hand with him. And if any unnaturalness happens, you let myself or my husband know straight away. Our family is perfectly normal, and we expect Harry to fit in."

With that, Petunia strutted away, cooing at Dudley that he deserved ice cream as Harry trotted along behind, carrying his and Dudley's backpacks.

My jaw tightened and I ground my teeth. When all the kids had gone, I headed up to the headmistresses office, knocking on the doorframe.

"Cathrine, do you have a moment?"

The elderly headmistress looked up and smiled at me. "Of course David, please, come in. How was your first day?"

I stepped in and shut the door. "The kids were great; no problems there. However, I have some concerns about a parent. I don't have any solid proof yet, but I'm worried that one of my students may be in an abusive home."

"Oh? It's not the Davers girl is it? Born out of wedlock, her mother marrying that brute of a man. Very improper."

"No ma'am, Olivia was fine. It's Harry Potter, and his aunt Mrs. Dursley." I outlined my concerns, mentioning the state of Harry's clothes, the cold way in which he had been treated, and what his aunt had said about him.

"Well, Mr. Murphy, I understand your concerns, but I know the Dursleys. They're a good family, perfectly normal. I know Vernon's sister, Marge. We're in the kennel club together. I'm certain they're treating young Harry properly. This is England, perhaps we do things a bit differently than you did back in the States."

"Alright, thank you, good to know," I said, standing. "Still, as a teacher it's my duty to keep an eye on the students. I'll let you know if anything more develops."

Catherine waved her hand and looked back down at the papers on her desk. "Of course, of course. Good day, Mr. Murphy."

I started keeping a journal. Harry was always unusually hungry. He often had dark circles under his eyes, as if he was not sleeping well. Dudley and his little band of friends often verbally harassed Harry, and I once had to break up a shoving session. It was nothing concrete; it was nothing I could build a case on. But I watched. Not just Harry of course, but I paid special attention to him. I still hadn't decided if I was mad and that nothing I remembered about Harry Potter was real, but still, I kept an eye out.

Then, one day, October 9th, Harry stayed home from school while Dudley came. I noted it, but didn't really think anything of it. Kids stayed home from school for all kinds of reasons. I asked Dudley, "Where's Harry?"

He smirked. "He got what he deserved."

Alarm bells went off. "Got what he deserved?"

"Yeah, I taught him a lesson. No more of his unnaturalness, like mum says. Dad said he got what he deserved."

The day couldn't be over fast enough. I popped my head into the office five minutes after the bell rang. "Cathrine, I'm doing a home visit. Do I need to fill anything out? A school official need to accompany me or anything?"

She looked up, surprised. "Well, no. We don't normally do home visits, but as the teacher you are free to call upon parents at any time. Is it the Davers girl?"

"Thanks, I'll let you know," I said. I grabbed my jacket (England is freaking cold in October if you've been living in Hawaii), my polaroid camera, looked up 4 Privet Drive and caught the bus. A short ride and a quick walk later, and I found myself out front of the Dursley's home.

My heart pounded as I walked up the immaculate walkway. I hummed the first few bars of the Hogwarts theme from the movies, then made myself stop. This wasn't a movie, this was one of my kiddos. I didn't give a damn about dark lords, ancient prophecies, or magic of any kind. I had to make sure my student was alright.

I knocked on the door, and after a moment Petunia opened it. "Oh, Mr. Murphy, what are you doing here?"

I gave her a winning smile and held up a tacky plastic medal. "Dudley won student of the month! I wanted to come by and present it to the proud parents." I waved my camera as well. "Wanted to get a picture of you and him when I award the medal as well so we can put it on our Wall of Fame."

I actually wasn't making the Student of the Month and Wall of Fame bit up, just that Dudley had won anything. He was a bit of a bully and often pushed other kids around, and to get student of the month you had to treat others with kindness in my room (as an aside, awarding student of the month to 5 year olds based on academic performance is dumb. At that age, what they know is thanks to their parents work, not theirs. Awarding them for good behavior though, is something they have a larger hand in).

Petunia clutched her chest and let out a gasp. "My Dudders, student of the month! Oh, please, do come in Mr. Murphy! Dudders, Dudders your teacher is here, he's brought you an award!"

I stepped into the hall, and my heart sank when I saw what I was looking for: a cupboard under the stairs with locks on it. "Hey, where's Harry, maybe he can join us for the medal presentation?" I asked.

Petunia glanced at me and frowned. "He's sick, and he's been very naughty. He can't come out of his...room. And he had best be very silent!" She said the last in a raised voice, then smiled sweetly at me. "Please, come into the sitting room, Dudders is just watching the telly, I'll get him from his room."

With that, Petunia raced up the stairs, calling for Dudley. The moment she was gone I tapped on the cupboard. "Harry, are you in there? Are you OK?"

There was silence, and for a moment I hoped I had been wrong. Then something rustled. "Mr. M?" Harry's voice was hoarse and ragged, as if his throat was raw or he was in pain.

"Hold on kid." I flicked open the locks, thankfully they were just a deadbolt and a latch, then opened the cupboard. What I saw broke my heart. Harry's right eye was blackened, and he was peering at me from utter darkness. He was a thin mattress that was stained with old sweat. Thankfully it looked clean and free of pests. Broken toys and crumpled drawings from school lined the filthy walls. I lifted my camera and took three quick pictures. Then I reached in and pulled Harry out.

"Mr. M, I'm not supposed to come out," Harry whispered, but he clung to me anyway.

"It's OK kiddo, I'm here." I took two more pictures of the insides of the cupboard, then let the camera hang on its lanyard and stood, picking up Harry as I did so.

"Mr. Murphy, I was thinking, perhaps out in the garden where the light is best, I do so want the best side of my Dudders and- what are you doing?!" Petunia had paused on the stairs, glaring down at me. Dudley was behind her, peering down at us from between the banisters, grinning spitefully at Harry.

"Mrs. Dursley, I believe I could ask you much the same question." My voice was cold, and seemed to be coming from someone else. I held Harry tight, and he clung to me, burying his face in my shoulder to hide from the vengeful glare of his aunt.

"You leave that boy alone! I don't want his unnaturalness ruining my Dudley's award ceremony! Put him back right this instant!" Petunia demanded.

"No." I returned Petunia's glare with one of my own, but she didn't back down. "I just found one of my students, locked in the dark, injured. Care to explain how he acquired this black eye?"

"He fell. Little boys do that," Petunia sniffed. "He was in there as a punishment for misbehavior. You have no right to-"

"I HAVE EVERY RIGHT!" I roared. "Harry is mine. Dudley is mine. They're all mine. My kids. You do not screw with my kids." I looked down at Harry, realizing that my shoulder was wet. He was crying. "Kiddo, you want to go with me? Somewhere safe?"

He nodded frantically. "Yes," he whispered.

I glared back up at Petunia. "We're leaving. Now. Do not try and follow us."

"How dare you! I'll call the police!"

"Oh, please do!" I held up the photos I'd taken. "I'm sure the police would love to see these pictures and Harry's black eye.

Petunia froze, but after a moment she straightened. "You have no right, barging in here and taking my nephew. When my husband gets home he will-"

I didn't wait to hear what Vernon Dursley would do. I had never met the man, and frankly, that was probably for the best. If I did, I might try and reenact Kindergarten Cop and deck the bastard. Look, I know it's not out yet, but when it does come out, go see it. You'll know the scene I'm talking about.

I stalked out and carried Harry down to the gas (er, petrol) station. There was a pay phone outside, and I dialed 911. When nothing happened, I groaned, hung up, and dialed 999.

"Operator speaking, please state the nature of your emergency."

"Hello, this is David Murphy. I'm a teacher at St. Gregory's Primary School. I was doing a home visit, and I've found an abused child. I believe I'm going to need an officer to speak to. I'm at the petrol station on Farlane in Little Whinging."

"Oh my. I'll dispatch an officer right away. Please remain on the line. Do you have the child with you?"

I adjusted Harry on my shoulder. "Yes, I've got the student with me now. Harry Potter. I removed him from the Dursley Residence at 4 Privet Drive."

"Very good, the officers are on there way."

The rest of the day was utterly soul crushing. The officers came and took Harry and I to the police station. I handed over my pictures and camera as evidence, and then filled out several reports. Harry stayed with me; when the police had tried to separate us, he cried and begged and pleaded not to be taken from me.

"If it's alright with you, I'll come along and Harry can stay with me," I told the detective.

"Well, alright. You're Franklin's boy's teacher, aren't you?"

"Alex Franklin? Yes, he's in my class; Harry is his schoolmate."

"Well, I suppose we can trust you then, Roger has had nothing but praises for the Yank teacher. You'll need to be quiet while we talk to the boy though."

It was heartbreaking to listen to Harry talk to the detective and social worker.

"Sometimes they would send me to bed without supper if I didn't get all my chores done."

"I hadn't had any water since breakfast. They gave me a glass and a piece of bread but I was so hungry and thirsty I ate it all."

"I was in the cupboard because I was bad. One of Dudley's toys floated out the window, and he punched me. Aunt Petunia put me in the cupboard for making the toy float and being mean, but honest I just wanted to play with it, I didn't make it float." Well, so much for magic not being real. Awesome.

Hours later, a smiling middle aged woman came into the interview room. "Alright Harry, we've got a place for you to stay. You can come with us now."

"No!" Harry cried. "No, I want to stay with Mr. M!"

"Sorry kiddo, you'll have to go with this nice lady. You can't stay with me. But I hope you can come back to class and see me every day. Will that be OK?"

"Oh, he won't be returning Mr. Murphy, not in this situation. With his cousin in the class, it wouldn't be proper."

Harry wailed and clung to me ever tighter. I frowned at the social worker. That was not the right thing to say in front of the traumatized kiddo. I put my head down next to Harry's. "Hey, it's gonna be alright. Maybe I can come see you some time. You'll be alright." I looked up at the social worker. "Where is Harry going?"

"I'm going with Mr. M!" Harry cried, and there was a flash.

The social worker and I both blinked and rubbed our eyes. She looked at the paper, pursing her lips. "I'm afraid that's confidential but...Wait. You're David Murphy?"

I frowned at her. "Yes."

"David Murphy of 12 Paisley Avenue, Little Whinging Surrey?"

"That would be my address," I agreed. "Why? I thought you said I couldn't visit Harry?"

"My apologies, but it seems Harry is actually supposed to stay with you, Mr. Murphy. It says so right here."

She handed me the paper. It said no such thing. The form was entirely blank, but I didn't say anything. Instead, I handed it back. "You're sure it says David Murphy?"

"I am perfectly capable of reading the form, Mr. Murphy. I'll just need to escort you back to your home, do a quick inspection, and then have you sign."

I looked down at Harry. He looked so hopeful, so happy. I sighed and looked back up. "Alright, but we'll need a ride. I don't drive."

A short time later we were back at my rented flat. It was small, but thank God it was mostly clean at the moment. The social worker inspected the place, then nodded. "Good enough, though I don't see a child's bedroom."

"Harry can sleep on my bed, I'll take the couch."

"Very good, very good. Sign here please." I took the offered pen and signed. "Thank you, Mr. Murphy. This is just a temporary placement of course. Another social worker will be by in a few days to check on you."

And then she was gone, and I was alone with the Boy-Who-Lived. I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to collect my thoughts. Obviously, Harry had turned that form into something that resembled Dr. Who's Psychic Paper. I had to think, had to figure out what was going on. I'd been so focused on keeping up with work and making sure Harry was OK that I hadn't thought what I would do if something like this happened. I had figured some wizard, coughDumbledorecough, and then Harry could go live in the magical world and I would probably never hear from him again. That, or it would turn out magic was a load of bunk and Harry would just go to a loving family. Either way really.

But he was here now. So, I turned and smiled. "Alright kiddo, what do you want for dinner?"

Harry looked up at me, his eyes wide. "But Mr. M, you're the grown up, you get to pick?"

I smiled and knelt down. "Yeah, but you've had a rough day. So let's take a look in the fridge and you can pick out something for me to cook." When Harry's eyes started to water, I drew him into another hug. "Hey, it's OK. What about pancakes, you like pancakes?"

Yeah, yeah, I know, pancakes are American. So sue me. Turns out you can still buy corn syrup in the UK, and Harry did indeed want pancakes. I had him help me cook, and he was pretty darn good at it. We greased a skillet with butter and I made Harry a large stack along with some scrambled eggs.

"Aren't you going to eat first, Mr M?" Harry asked when I set him down at the table.

"No, but you can wait for me if you want," I said, pouring some more batter.

Harry nodded and sat patiently, which was pretty surprising for a five year old. I hurried it up and sat down, taking out a carton of orange juice. "Want some? Or would you rather have some milk?"

When Harry nodded, I poured him a small glass (never had a five year old a full glass unless you want to be mopping it up) and sat down. Harry reached for his fork and started eating, but stopped when he noticed I wasn't. "Mr. M?"

"Why don't we say grace," I said, smiling at Harry.

He cocked his head to one side, but when I bowed my head he copied me. "For food, for raiment, for life, for opportunity and friendship and fellowship, we thank thee O Lord, amen."

As soon as I took a bite Harry started devouring his own food. He finished before I did, and I nodded to the stove top. "You want another one?"

"But I don't need seconds," Harry said, sounding a little worried. "Those are for Dudley and Uncle Vernon."

I had to fight to keep a smile on my face. "You see either of them here?" Harry shook his head. "Well, then seconds are for anyone who's still hungry. You still hungry?"

"Yes," Harry said quietly.

I stood, leaving my half finished pancake. I was sick to my stomach anyway. "Well, then why don't I make you another one? More juice?"

After dinner, Harry helped me wash up, then I had to cast around for something to do with him. I didn't own a television, never having been terribly interested in TV in the first place and utterly bored by all the offerings from the current time. I had children's toys, but they were all at school. "Hey, you want me to read you a story?" I asked.

"I like stories," Harry agreed.

I went to my small bookshelf and searched around for something age appropriate. I settled on Watership Down, which was a favorite book of mine. I'd have to bring home some picture books and other stuff for Harry.

Still, Harry was more than content to listen to me read about kickass rabbits for a half hour, until his eyelids started drooping.

I glanced at the clock. It was only 7:45, but kiddos needed to go to bed early. I figured it was close enough to time. "Come on, let's get you a bath, clean clothes, and bed," I said.

Harry flushed and looked down. "I don't have any clean clothes."

I slapped my face and groaned. "Aw crap, you're right. Sorry kid, we'll get you clean clothes tomorrow. Still, best to have a bath."

I felt bad about putting the kid back in his dirty too large second hand clothes, but it was what we had on hand. I settled him on my bed, tucked him in, and went to the door. "Goodnight Harry, sleep well. I'll see you in the morning." I turned off the light and started to close the door.

"Mr M?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Can I stay with you? Forever?"

It felt like someone had just stabbed me in the chest. I looked away, fighting against the onions someone had started cutting. "For as long as you can, Harry. I promise."

Yeah, I know. Don't go making promises you can't keep.


	2. Chapter 2

I called into work the next morning, and Catherine was understanding. The police had contacted her as well. "I'm surprised they're having Harry stay with you, David. I didn't realize you were a foster parent."

You and me both lady. "Yeah, well, you know, I couldn't let some stranger take Harry. We'll be back on Monday, hopefully there won't be any problems with the Dursleys."

"Dudley is no longer with his parents, as they're being investigated by NSPCC. He's changed schools as well."

"Makes sense. Alright, thanks for your understanding."

"No, thank you, David. I should have listened to your concerns back in September. You've prevented an awful tragedy."

I took Harry shopping, buying him some toys, books, clothes, shoes, all the stuff a kid needs. It was a bit odd really. Sure, I'd been working with children my entire adult life and I'd been a classroom teacher for five years, but I'd never had a kid of my own to look after before. Honestly, I loved it. Getting to see Harry's smile when he got to try on clothes, or his laughter when we bought a few toy cars, it was wonderful. We ate out for lunch, and Harry was thrilled to get to eat at a restaurant. Evidently the Dursleys had left him home when they ate out, and only occasionally gave him leftovers. I was increasingly glad I'd gotten Harry out of that hell hole, but a nagging thought remained at the back of my mind.

What if the wizards found out? What if Dumbledore found out? Worse, what if some deranged Death Eater like Lucius Malfoy found out? I was a school teacher, not an ex-navy SEAL or some skilled fighter. I firmly believed that what I had done was best for Harry's health and well being, but what about long term? I remembered something about blood protections being needed to keep Harry healthy, and that was what had saved his life a couple of times.

After a long day, I took Harry back to my flat, laden with new things. I would have to clear out my office at some point and put in a kiddie bed for Harry, but for now I could crash on my couch. No problem. Still, once everything was put away, I sat Harry down.

"Harry, what do you know about your family?"

He looked at me oddly. "You know Aunt Petunia and Dudley Mr M. Uncle Vernon is big and loud and doesn't like things that are not normal, like me."

"Normal's just a setting on your dryer Harry. Nobody's normal. Take me, for instance. Nobody think's I'm normal. I'm a Yank." I glanced around and put a finger to my lips. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm no Yankee."

Harry giggled. "Are you really English Mr M?"

"Nah, I just ain't from Back East. I'm really a cowboy. Grew up in Arizona: the wild west. We had cacti, road runners and coyotes, tumble weeds and stuff. Of course, I'm terrible on a horse and I never lassoed a steer, but I certainly ain't a Yankee. I've never even been to New England."

Harry laughed some more, but then my expression hardened and he stopped. "No, Harry, not the Dursleys. Your family: your mother and father."

"They died in a car crash when I was a baby."

I sighed and shook my head. "I'm not so sure about that kid. Let me tell you a story. Once, not too long ago, in a magical land, there was a dark wizard. He had great and terrible magics: he could kill with a word, and had created five phylacteries to hold his soul. All the land trembled in fear of him, and it seemed he would conquer the magical land."

"This wizard, for all his power, was very afraid though. He hid behind a false name: Lord Voldemort. Be careful when and how you say that name, because if one of his followers were to hear it, they would kill you for it. This wizard, who's true name was Tom, was afraid of one thing: Death. Even though he had created phylacteries and was impossible to truly slay unless they were all destroyed, Tom feared death. He feared dying, he feared losing his power. So, when one day one of his servants brought him word of a prophecy, fear gripped his heart. The prophecy spoke of a child born at the end of July, a child with the power to kill Tom once and for all and end his reign of terror. However, he did not hear all the prophecy, for his minion had not heard all of it."

"And so, Tom set out to end this threat to his power. But, he could not act, for the family of the child had been told of the danger, and had erected powerful spells of their own to protect their baby boy. For a time, the family was safe. But then, one of their friends, Peter Wormtail, betrayed them to the Dark Lord. He told Tom how to find them, and how to bypass their protections. And so, on Halloween night, he struck. The Dark Lord burst into the family's home, smashing their spells. He killed the father of the boy as he tried to protect his wife and son. Then he went up to the boys room. His mother begged for the boy's life, but Tom would show them no mercy. He killed the boy's mother. Then, he raised his wand once more, and tried to kill the boy."

Harry was looking at me wide eyes, his face pale and his breathing fast and shallow. I smiled at him. "It didn't work. The boy's mother sacrificed herself for her son, because she loved him more than anything in the world. When the Dark Lord tried to kill the baby, his magic failed him, and he himself was cursed. Thanks to his phylacteries, he did not die. Instead, he was banished as a cruel spirit. He was defeated, but not forever."

"Now, the boy was an orphan. He had been marked by the dark lord, marked with an odd scar on his forehead." I reached up and made a lighting shape on my forehead. Harry slowly reached up and did the same on his own forehead, his mouth open in shock. "And so, it was decided that the boy had to be hidden for his own safety. For even though the Dark Lord was banished, he still had many followers who would have slain the boy if they could find him. Thus, the boy was left with his relatives as an infant, his aunt and uncle, and his cousin. They had no magic, for they did not live in the same world as the Dark Lord Tom, the boy, or his parents. It was hoped that in this separate world, the boy would be well taken care of and protected from all evil and grow up strong and brave, that when the Dark Lord returned he could lead the other wizards and the magical land into battle and defeat Tom once and for all."

"It was not to be. The aunt resented the boy and her sister, who had magic that she lacked. Her husband was a fat, stupid, boring man, who hated anything that would make him seem less important. And the cousin was like his parents, and became cruel and angry at his cousin because he was taught to hate. The boy was locked in a cupboard and forgotten for many years, never knowing that his parents had died to save him, never knowing that he was the Chosen One, destined to return to the magical kingdom on his 11th birthday and save the magical land."

I stopped, trying to think of what to say next. Harry beat me to it. "Was that boy me?" Harry asked, in a very small voice.

I reached out and squeezed his shoulder. "Yes, Harry. That boy was you. Your parents were James and Lily Potter. They did not die in a car accident. They were murdered trying to save you. They were heroes."

Tears filled Harry's eyes, and he reached out and grabbed hold of me. "Is it true?"

I nodded, holding Harry close. "It's true, as far as I know it's all true."

"Did you know my parents?"

I sighed and shook my head. "No. I never met them. I read about them in a book. Most of what I know came from books, actually. Books about you and the future."

"Books about me?" Harry was confused by this, so I decided to keep it simple.

"I'll explain more as you get older kiddo. For now, just know that one day, you'll be a wizard yourself. There's going to be a lot of danger and trouble in your life ahead Harry. Don't worry though. I'll be there with you, doing what I can." Which really, wasn't much, but I wasn't about to tell a five year old he was screwed by destiny.

"OK, Mr. M."

And that was pretty much it, at least for the time being. The next two days were pretty busy as I rearranged the flat for myself and a kid and Harry decided to push some limits with me. It was pretty minor stuff, he tried to take another cookie (er, biscuit) when I told him no, didn't clean up his toys when I told him to, that sort of thing. I really didn't like having to give him time outs or confiscating his new toys, but I've dealt with kids enough to know that discipline and order are vital, so we got through it. Harry was overall very happy, and things settled in pretty well.

And then I got a phone call from social services Monday afternoon. "Mr Murphy? This is Mrs. Macnair calling from Child Welfare Services. I have a report here that Harry Potter was left with you?"

"Yeah, that's right," I leaned back in my chair, glancing over to the corner of the classroom where Harry was quietly playing with playdough. It was after school and I was getting centers planned for the rest of the week, something I normally did on Fridays but couldn't due to the little crisis. "He's here right now with me; he's a student in my classroom as well."

"Yes, well, it was most unusual that Harry was left with you Mr. Murphy. I believe we're sending someone over to pick Harry up this evening."

I leaned forward, rubbing my forehead. "I don't know that will work. Harry's pretty attached to me, and he's been very traumatized by this whole mess. I think for now it would be best if he stayed with me. Obviously, I'm safe to leave with children, I've had background checks done by two governments and I've got multiple references if you need those. You can swing by my flat and take a look, I've done some rearranging so that it's a suitable living arrangement for a young boy."

"Well, there is the matter of you not being related to Mr. Potter, a designated foster parent in our child care system, and that you're not a citizen of the United Kingdom."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. Still, what would I have to do to keep Harry? At least for the time being. I think it would be best for him."

"Well...You do have that paperwork that says Harry should be left with you, but I can't trace the origin of it. Why don't you come into my office tomorrow and we can see what we can do? The last social worker commented that Harry was very attached to you, and that you seemed to be very capable of caring for him."

"We can do that. Can it be an afternoon appointment? After school would be best."

"I'm afraid that just won't work, I've only got morning appointments."

I groaned mentally. I hated taking days off: having a sub was just so much work, and I really didn't like to leave the kids unless I had to. Still, it was for Harry, and I was pretty sure Cathrine would understand. "OK, what time?"

"I have a 10:00 that's open. Can you be here then?"

"Sure, I'll just have to check the bus schedule. Not real good at driving on the left just yet. What's the address and closest stop?"

I wrote it down and mentally cursed the fact that Google wasn't a thing yet. Seriously, Google and smartphones make magic look pretty pathetic. Well OK, I might be slightly biased, but still. Google rocks.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\\/\/\/\

I finished my story and took another drink from my glass. "And that pretty much gets us to where we are now."

Libra Macnair stared back at me, her own glass clutched in her hand, empty and forgotten, her legs curled up around her in a protective fashion. We'd ditched the office after an hour and she'd driven Harry and I back to my flat. The kid was playing quietly in his room with some of his new toys; he'd gotten pretty bored of the story since most of it went right over his head.

"So from what I understand, you are claiming to be a time traveling muggle from 30 years in the future who read a children's book series about Harry Potter that somehow gave you knowledge of the magical world, despite you having no practical magical experience. You claim You-Know-Who isn't dead, that he's coming back, and will try to kill Harry and anyone close to him. Despite all this, when you saw Harry Potter and realized he was being abused by his relatives, you took him into your own home."

"You know, when you say it like that it's a whole lot easier to understand, but I feel like it loses that authentic human element. Especially the pants wetting terror and the bits where I thought I was going nuts."

Libra slowly shook her head. "You are completely mad."

"Well, obviously you would think that," I said, polishing off my juice and setting the glass down. "You're a limey. You think all Americans are bonkers."

"Do you have anything a bit stronger? I think I need it after a story like that." Libra looked faintly green now, and I can't say I could blame her.

"Nope, sorry. Don't drink."

When Libra gave me a stink eye, I shrugged. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I really thought I was safe. You-Know-Who is dead, my father killed in the war, my dear older brother unaware of my existence. And here you come telling me that in only a few years, that awful time is going to come back."

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but basically, yes. And when Voldemort does come back, sorry, yeah, shouldn't say that, he will be out to kill him some squibs. And...I hate to say this, but what little I do remember reading about your brother made me think he was an insane monster who lived to kill. Either humans or sentient magical creatures."

"That does sound like dearest Walden," Libra said, her expression bitter. "If he found me, I would have to pray that he would kill be before her raped me." My expression must have conveyed my utter horror at this statement. Libra gave me a sad smile. "The joys of being born to a Pureblood obsessed family and having no magic. I'm lucky my mother spirited me away before father could kill me."

I winced. "Yeah. Sounds great. So, what exactly are you going to do about me and Harry?"

Libra was quiet for a moment, then sighed and stood up, pacing towards Harry's room. I sprang up and followed her. She opened the door to Harry's room and looked in, and I tensed, not sure what she would do.

"Miss Macnair?" Harry said, looking up for the lego set I had got him.

Kneeling down, Libra picked up on of the legos and smiled at Harry. "Looks like fun."

"It is! I really like legos. These are my knights, see? This one is Sir Harry, and this one is Mr. M. They're going to fight the bad wizard, Tom." Harry proceeded to make fighting noises and knock some of the minifigures together.

Libra watched for a minute, studying Harry as he played. Then she stood and walked out. I paused in the doorway for a moment, watching Harry play, then followed Libra out. For once, I managed to be quiet while she paced in the front room. After a few minutes, she sighed and turned to me.

"Even if your story is false, which at this point I am inclined to believe, you have taken good care of Harry. You are remarkably well informed on the state of affairs in the wizarding world if you are indeed a muggle, and not a secret wizard or a squib such as myself. You do not appear to be a Death Eater, and you clearly do not sympathise with them or you wouldn't tolerate being around muggle children or myself so well. At this point, I am inclined to permanently place Harry with you."

"You don't think we should maybe contact someone in the wizarding world? Like, I don't know, Dumbledore?"

"Not him." Libra's normally warm brown eyes filled with a surprising amount of coldness. "That old man prefers to sit by and let children die. He would not shelter me, not when my mother asked."

I hesitated, but then nodded. I remembered not thinking much of Dumbledore; his plans were really convoluted, and for an all powerful wizard he sure missed some big warning signs. Like Voldemort living on the back of a Professor's head, a basilisk roaming his school, and having a sadistic torturer on staff. "Are there any wizards that you trust? Anyone who could help me with Harry?"

"The only witch I ever trusted was my mother, and she's dead."

"Fantastic." I sat back on the couch and closed my eyes. After a moment, I opened one and peered up at Libra. "Say, you don't know where I could get my hands on gun, do you?"

"Bloody Yanks."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

With Libra on my side, getting to keep Harry became pretty easy. She wasn't a senior caseworker or anything, but she knew what forms to fill out, who to talk to, and what say. The hardest part was of course that I wasn't a UK citizen, and I wasn't eligible to become a citizen for years. Still, with Libra working on the case things went as smoothly as could be expected on that end.

Still, my life was even further complicated. Having a kid around changes things. There is no off button on your life anymore. You can't just veg with a book or on your computer (PCs rule, Macs drool) for a couple of hours. Kids need stuff, like meals cooked, reminders to clean up, help with toiletries, and the list goes on and on and on. Also, being a single parent sucks.

Still, for the most part dealing with Harry was a pleasure. He was polite and kind, and really started to blossom in school now that he was getting all of his basic needs met and wasn't being bullied .I finally got a car and managed not to kill myself or anyone else (seriously, why the left UK, why the left?!). Harry had some doctors appointments and complained about having to go to the dentist. I ended up having to deal with the usual crap at school, but overall life started to settle into a routine after a few weeks.

That is, until I met my first wizard.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a pretty normal Saturday. I'd decided to take Harry to the countryside for a little hiking, and we'd stopped on the way back at a small store for a bathroom break. We'd just finished up and were heading back to the car when this stranger in a suit about 25 years out of date comes up to us.

"You're him!" the man gasped, pointing at Harry's forehead.

Harry hid behind me nervously, and I stepped forward, trying to keep a smile on my face. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, yes, if it's not too much trouble, could I shake the hand of Harry Potter?" The stranger didn't look at me and tried to circle around to get to Harry.

I looked down at Harry, who whimpered and continued to hide behind my leg. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen, pal. Just who are you, anyway, and why are you bothering my son?"

Look, it just slipped out, OK? Christ, I sounded like an angry soccer mom. Shut up. I'm not calling it football.

The oddball frowned and looked at my face as if realizing I was there for the first time. "But, he's not your son! He's Harry Potter, and he's a hero! What's an American like you doing with him?"

"Harry, get in the car," I ordered.

Harry nodded and scampered off, glancing back at the stranger with big eyes.

"Are you muggle?" the man asked, now frowning and reaching inside of his suit jacket. "I don't think someone who doesn't even know-"

I reached out and slapped the man's hand down. "Are you insane?" I hissed. "There's a dozen damn witnesses here. You going to pull out your wand and try kidnapping the kid? The hell is your problem?"

Flinching, the man stepped back, looking embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry, it's just...well, I'd heard a rumor Harry had gone missing and I-"

"Back off pal," I ordered. "I can mess you up ten ways to Sunday without a wand. Harry's safe, and I'm his protector. So unless to start something one of us is really going to regret," namely me, I was really going to regret it if spells started flying, "pretend this never happened."

"Oh, yes, of course, I apologize. Erm, goodbye."

And with that, Bozo stepped off and fled down a side street.

I took a deep breath then hopped in the car. Then I got out and walked around to the other side and got in. Come on people, what's so hard about driving on the right?

"Who was that, Mr. M?" Harry asked, his voice trembling.

"A wizard, probably. Not sure what kind. Don't worry kid, you're safe."

"OK."

I started up the car, my hands sweating and feeling like I'd just avoided a disaster. I was a mile down the road when Harry spoke up again.

"Did you mean it?"

"Did I mean what?" I asked, glancing in my mirrors for about the 500th time to see if we were being followed. Not that I would know. Spy stuff isn't exactly covered in Teacher Education.

"That I'm your son," Harry said quietly.

I sighed and put on my blinker and pulled off on a side road. I parked and turned around, looking Harry in the eye. "Yeah, I did. I'm not trying to disrespect your parents or anything, but yeah, I think of you as my son."

Harry reached forward, and I unbuckled and hugged him. "It's going to be OK, kiddo. I love you, and we'll get through this, OK?"

Once we were back at the ranch and Harry was playing in his room, I decided now was as good a time as any to have another panic attack. I got my phone and dialed Libra's number

"JesusChristLibraImetawizardandhehadawandandhetriedtotakeHarryandIdontknowifhefollowedmeand-"

"David? David is that you? David, calm down, take a breath, and try to not speak in one very long word."

I nodded and closed my eyes, which was sort of dumb because Libra couldn't exactly see me. "Wizard. Saw me and Harry. We got away, but he said something about Harry going missing."

Libra gasped, and I heard the sound of shuffling papers in the background. "David, I'll be right over. Don't go anywhere, OK? I'll tell the office it's an emergency."

I paced back and forth while I waited for Libra, glancing nervously at the door. I went to the kitchen and got out a nice sharp knife, then laughed at myself and put it back. Seriously, a knife? What the hell was that going to do against an actual wizard?

After what felt like approximately three months but was more like half an hour, Libra showed, up, out of breath and bearing a bag from the grocery store. "Are you safe?" were the first words out of her mouth.

"Well, I think so, yeah," I admitted. I glanced around behind her. "Get inside. I couldn't tell if someone was tailing you even if I wanted to."

"Where's Harry?" Libra asked.

"Taking a nap," I told her, locking the door and considering the purchase of a deadbolt. Which was pointless, what with that door unlocking spell. I turned around and paced to the kitchen, where Libra was taking something out of her bag. "He didn't really seem to realize anything was wrong, and I kept it together long enough to put him down. He was tired after the hike and didn't sleep in the car."

"Excellent. Then we shall do what I always do in situations like these," Libra pronounced. She took out a very large bottle of wine and a cork screw.

I eyed the bottle suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

Expertly, Libra popped the bottle open and poured two very large glasses. She handed me one, which I took automatically. "David, I'm a single woman who has no family, no one who knows my secret, and no one I can turn to should my secret get out. I quite literally have a list of people who would love to kill me if they ever realized I was still alive and learned my location. I once thought about taking a self defense course, or, yes, even getting a gun. But what good would it do me? I've seen what magic can do to people: it isn't pretty and I have no way to stop it. I thought about leaving Britain, but I have no support or contacts and have no idea how I would get a job. Instead, I've laid low."

"Sounds like a pretty smart move," I agreed, absently peering into the glass of wine. It was a dark red, which I sort of thought was weird. The communion cups were always purplish. Weren't they the same thing? "What's that got to do with this though?"

Libra raised her glass and downed half of it in one go. "I drink, David. Don't make me do it alone. Besides, this time it wasn't even me who had the near miss."

Now, when I say I don't drink, I don't mean I'm a baptist or something. I just mean I never saw the appeal. I've had a cider or two in my time, but frankly, I never really understood why someone would want to make themselves stupid and forgetful on purpose.

However, I suddenly saw the appeal of that when I thought about how powerless and scared I had been when I had realized Bozo had been a wizard, and that if he tried to take Harry he could literally make me forget the boy even existed or kill me with minimal effort. So, I copied Libra and downed my wine.

"Wow," I gasped. "Burns a bit."

"You really don't drink, do you?" Libra asked, her tone somewhat amused as she refilled her glass and mine.

"Screw it, I'll make an exception," I said, raising the glass to my lips again. "To self medication."

So, Libra and I took a seat at the table. She made me take it easy, and frankly that first glass hit me like a kick from a mule, so I was more than willing to pace myself.

"I was raised in the foster system," Libra explained. "My mother thought muggles still used orphanages, and while there were a few around by the early seventies that wasn't really the case anymore. She dropped me off at a church with a note, and I got taken in. I was one of the lucky ones, really. I got bounced around a bit, but I was never abused or anything. I was 11, so I was in the system for seven years. Stayed at my last home for 28 months. My foster mum was lovely really, but she'd been caring for troubled teens for a long time. Once I hit 18, she found me a job, helped me get a roommate, and that was it; she had more kids to take care of. I haven't spoken to her more than once or twice since."

"I haven't even been born yet," I confided. "I'm actually like, negative 2 or something. I was born April 11th, 1989 in Juneau Alaska. My parents were pretty cool though. Raised me and my brothers right, even if Michael did stray off the beaten path a bit. We moved to Arizona when I was five in '94. Jesus, that place was hot. It's like...50 degrees? Or something? I dunno, what's 110 in celsius?"

"Much hotter than I care for," Libra said, sipping her wine.

I flushed. "Ah'm sorry, you were talkin' about yourself. I just...I mean, you're pretty, ya know? And I ain't told nobody else what happened to me. Folks and school 'n church, think I'm a right nice guy and stuff, but hell they don't know me. They don't know anything. I ain't told a soul. Well, 'cept you 'n Harry. But goddamn, that must be how you live. How...how do you live with it? Lyin' all the time, never takin' the mask off."

Libra sighed, and polished off her glass again and began pouring another, focusing very hard on not spilling anything. "I don't know. When I saw Harry Potter in my office...I mean, I knew who he was. The war ended after I left, but still, when all these wizards started parading about in broad daylight a few years back, I had a panic attack. I thought they were all after me. But when a drunk witch told me about Harry Potter and his scar, and that Voldemort was dead...well, I hoped, you know? Maybe it was all over."

"But it wasn't," I said, pointing at Libra. "Peter Pettigrew blew up that street and framed Sirius Black for it and hid like a rat."

Libra blinked at me. "What?"

"You know," I said, trying to take a drink and mostly spilling the wine on myself. I paused and tried to lick it off my shirt.

"No, I don't. Sirius Black murdered all those poor people," Libra declared.

"Nahhh," I said, giving it up and taking another drink. I belched, then hiccuped. "'Scuse me. But anyway, Peter the Rat blew up the street. Cut off one off one of his fingers and stuff. Framed Black for it. Peter's like, the worst. Cuts off his arm and helps resurrect Voldem-"

The next thing I knew, I was on the floor with Libra astrid me, her hand over my mouth as she glared down at me.

"Don't you fucking dare," Libra hissed. "Don't say his name!"

I nodded, my eyes wide. I felt an embarrassing surge of blood to my lower section. I blushed deeply, and Libra got up on shaky legs. She stalked into the kitchen, returning with a fresh bottle and two glasses. I realized that the other two were now shattered, and gingerly picked my way over to my dustpan and tried to sweep them up while hiding my um, excitement. This was made very difficult by the large amount of spilled wine and having to position myself just so, but I got it.

We sat back down at the table. Libra poured for both of us, and thrust the wine at me. "Well, I don't know if I believe you still, but bloody hell David. How do you know about Black and Pettigrew?"

"It was in the books," I explained. "Prisoner of Azkaban and all that. Shoot, I bet Black's still locked up in there."

Libra swirled the wine in her plastic He-Man cup (I um, I sort of had a dearth of nice glasses). "Bloody hell. Well, we can figure out what to do about that later.

"Yayyy," I said, and polished off my glass of wine.

I don't really remember much about what happened after that, but I awoke the next day with a pounding headache.

"Urrgh," I groaned. I crawled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Once I came out, I found Harry happily cooking breakfast, while Libra sat at the table reading the paper.

"Good morning, dad," Harry said happily.

"Urgh," I said, wincing at how loud Harry's voice was.

I sat down and Harry served me biscuits and gravy. God bless the boy, I was raising him right.

"Urgh," I said, nodding to convey my thanks. That hurt a lot, so it was a very small nod.

Libra passed me an ibuprofen and a glass of water. I downed the pilled, then started shoving biscuits and gravy into my mouth.

"Not a morning person?" Libra asked.

"Urgh," I answered, glaring at her.

"Mr. M told me that mornings are what God made to keep day from running into night twice," Harry said. "And that he only has to act happy once the students arrive. I don't count anymore, because I'm his son."

"Hmm," I agreed, expanding my vocabulary.

Libra laughed. "Well, I forgive you just this once, since apparently this is your first hangover. Congratulations."

I briefly considered using sign language to convey my thoughts on the matter, but decided that as Harry was present, it would be inappropriate. I just said "urgh" and finished my water.

"Is Mr. M your boyfriend Miss Libra?" Harry asked as he sat down with a plate of his own biscuits.

I felt a moment of pure panic, and I looked up with a wild expression at Libra. What had happened last night? What had I done? What had Harry seen? Oh God, what if-

"Just a friend, Harry," Libra told him."The first real friend I've had in a long time. David just needed some medicine last night, and I had to give it to him."

"Oh, I thought you both got drunk on wine," Harry said, wrinkling his nose. "Uncle Vernon used to do that, except he liked beer better. It's OK though, I know how to be quiet and clean up."

"No."

Everyone turned to look at me. I felt proud of myself. I'd graduated from inarticulate, to monosyllabic. It was only 8:23. I was becoming a real morning person.

"Not your job," I told Harry. "Sorry. Do better next time."

I groaned and got up and went to go do the dishes.

"Dad I can-"

"You're the kid. I'm the adult. My job," I muttered.

I was slopping hot water everywhere, but it hid my embarrassment. I was a failure as a parent. I'd gotten hammered with a kid in the house, leaving him to fend for himself and clean up after me. Libra was going to take him away and I was going to get fired and I'd have to move back to the States and I didn't even know who the hell was president and-

"Dad's kinda weird," Harry said in the background. "I think that's cause he's a time traveler. He's from the future, you know."

"Really?" Libra asked. "And here I thought it was just because he's an american. Interesting breakfast, by the way. What was it?"

"Biscuits and gravy: it's his favorite," Harry answered. "I thought he'd like it cause when Uncle Vernon drank he always wanted ham, beans, and toast. That was his favorite."

"Those where biscuits?" Libra asked, incredulous. "What has that yank been teaching you?"

"Proper cookin' and clean livin'," I called, then winced. Wow. Hangovers sucked.

"I may have to come by more often," Libra declared. "Otherwise he'll try and turn you into a yank, Harry."

"Never," I declared, coming back over and sitting down with another glass of water. "My granny'd kill me. I'm no yankee. The south will rise again."

Harry giggled, and Libra looked at me as if I'd grown as second head.

"We fired our guns but the british kept a comin'," I sang softly. Then I stopped and glanced at the two of them. "So, um, you forgive me, Harry, Libra?"

"For what?" Harry asked, mystified.

"For, you know," I fought not to look down, forcing myself to meet Harry's eyes like a man. "Not taking care of you. Drowning my sorrows instead of being responsible and taking care of you."

"And why should I forgive you. Breakfast really was lovely, even if those were not biscuits," Libra declared. "Though I suppose the fact that you had no tea or coffee is rather offensive."

"I um, you know, if I wasn't, er, a gentleman, or um, things," I said. Yep, that's me. Really articulate guy.

Libra laughed. "Please. We were both drunk. However, it may sooth your conscious to know that when I took you to bed, you told me I was 'very pretty' and 'not yet, gotta get hitched first.'"

"Oh thank God," I sighed, slumping in my seat. My virtue was intact. Well, whatever is left after you give a bachelor an unlimited internet connection anyway. God I missed the internet.

After breakfast was done and we'd all done our morning ablutions (apparently Libra thought ahead, and had packed a change of clothes) we all went to the park, where Harry ran wild and I pretended that I didn't have a monster headache.

"So, was what you said about Black true?" Libra asked as we sat together on a bench and she sipped at her tea.

I, being a manly man and a red blooded America, did not have tea. I had hot coco.

"Said what about who?" I asked, squinting in the horrifically bright light of the hell orb.

"About Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew," Libra prompted.

"What, about him being an Azkaban and Peter being Percy Weasley's pet rat? I mean, probably."

"Who's this Percy Weasley?" Libra asked. "And how is Pettigrew his pet? You keep talking about him like he's a rat, not a man."

"Oh, he's a skinwalker," I explained. "A rat one."

Libra blinked at me several times. "What, exactly, is a skinwalker?"

"A nagasaki. I taught on the rez for a few years. They're demons, or medicine men or something. They can turn into spirit animals and stuff. Pettigrew can become a rat, so he's pretending to be one so he can be a pet rat. See, in the Dresden Files, there's a story about a skinwalker, and believe or not he gets nuked and-"

"David, focus," Libra said, putting her hand on my leg.

I immediately focused, though probably not on what she wanted me to.

"Yeah?" I managed.

"Sirius Black is in Azkaban. But he isn't a murderer. Peter Pettigrew, who is, is the pet rat of this Percy Weasley. I think I remember the Weasley's being a family who fought for Dumbledore, yes?"

"Yeah, except Percy's like, a kid at this point," I explained. "Let's see, he was like, 15 when Harry would be 11, so Harry's five and that makes him-"

"That is not relevant. My point is, I want to know if you really do have knowledge of the future," Libra told me.

I shrugged. "Well, yeah. I mean, I feel bad for Black being in prison and all, but he was sort of a basket case. And you said not to trust wizards, and I happen to think you're probably on the money. See, I don't know how much of the books would really translate, and I've already made changes to the timeline, so since I assume this all operates on multiverse theory…" I trailed off. "Yeah, sorry, I get, um, distracted. And babble."

Libra moved the very distracting hand. "David, I think I know of a way to see if your information is accurate."

I frowned at her. "Ok. So, how would we do that with out, you know, screwing ourselves over? I mean, it's going to happen at some point. Harry's gonna hit 11, and unless we immigrate somewhere he won't have to go to Hogwarts, Dumbledore is going to figure things out and so will everyone else. Oh, and if I remember right, the States are some sort of hellhole for muggles. They had Grindelwald on their police force or something when Newt Salamander and his tardis went to New York."

"Are you sure you're not just a fellow squib who enjoys having a laugh at me?" Libra demanded.

I shrugged. "If my parents had any magic, I never heard about it. I mean hell, Suffer Not a Witch to Live was something we actually talked about when I tried to convince them that Pokemon was OK."

"Well at least that's a sentiment I can get behind," Libra muttered.

"Beware the alien, the mutant, the heretic," I declared, nodding. When Libra rolled her eyes, I winced. "Yeah, sorry, rabbit trails. So what's the plan?"

"So, Pettigrew is an animagus." Right! That's what it was called. "He's living with a family of wizards as a pet. If we could somehow inform the ministry that Peter Pettigrew is alive and pretending to be a pet rat, and if that ridiculous story somehow turns out to be true, I'm certain that they'd run a story about that in the news since Sirius Black is a known terrorist in our world as well."

"Yeah, but, how do we do that?" I asked. "Unless, you know, we just tell Dumbledore and let him take care if it."

"What makes you think that old man would even want to help?" Libra demanded.

"Well, it seemed like he cared about Harry, and the other students at Hogwarts," I ventured. "At least, in the books it did. He was sort talked up to be this great war hero and politico, but frankly his plans seemed sort of complicated and he missed a lot of stuff."

"The only person Dumbledore cares about is himself, and his image," Libra spat. She stood up, glancing at her watch. "I've got to go. I have a home visit to conduct later today. We'll talk tomorrow."

"Er, sure. Dinner at my place?" I offered.

"Fine," Libra said, walking away. "I'll be over around seven."

I watched her go, wondering just what the hell Dumbledore had done to her and her mother. I was starting to suspect that perhaps the books hadn't been the best source of information after all.

Could have been worse, though. I really didn't like what they did to Ron in the movies. I turned back to Harry, watching as he laughed and played with a pair of children. I waved to him, and he grinned and waved back, pointing and telling the other kids I was his dad.

I felt like someone had just snapped a rubber band inside of my heart. Damn. I was going to have to figure this out, because one way or another, I wasn't letting anything happen to Harry.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a long time since I'd invited a lady over for dinner. I mean, this wasn't a date or anything, and it wasn't like Libra hadn't been over to my place before, but still, I made an effort to clean the place up and cook something special.

"Hey, Harry, what's a traditional english dish that everyone loves?" I asked during breakfast that morning.

"Chicken tikka masala," Harry answered without skipping a beat.

I blinked a couple of times. "Isn't that Tai food?"

"Indian, actually. Uncle Vernon wasn't fond of it, but Dudley loved it," Harry informed me.

"Yeah…" I rubbed my chin, considering that. "Why don't we make spaghetti. Everyone loves spaghetti."

"I like spaghetti," Harry declared happily.

"Great. Libra's coming over for dinner. We're going to be discussing, well, your future, so I think maybe you'll want to sit in on the conversation."

"You're going to meet the wizards?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Not yet," I cautioned. "Like I told you, Tom the Bad Wizard is Only Mostly Dead, and he had some pretty awful friends. We've got to figure out who the good wizards are, so we can get you some help when it's time for you to be the chosen one. Well, that and if the wizards found out about me and Ms. Libra, they'd probably erase our memories and take you away."

Harry paused with a spoonful of oatmeal halfway to his mouth, looking utterly horrified. "They...they'd make you forget me?"

"Yeah, see, I'm just a run of the mill muggle. People like me ain't supposed to know magic is real and all. Plus, you're sort of a big deal, so if they found out some puny mortal was watching you, they'd probably object to the idea."

Harry swallowed, his eyes darting about nervously. "Would I...would I have to go back to the Dursleys?"

I sat silently for a moment, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, I settled on, "not if I have anything to say about it, kiddo. Which is why you've got to keep this all a secret. Except from me, and Ms. Libra. Though you ah, you may do some accidental magic."

"Really? Would I get in trouble?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.

I rubbed the back of my head. "I wouldn't get you in trouble, no, but if the wizards found out about it they might come take a looksee. Just to be safe, we should probably keep you away from any snakes."

"Snakes?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yeah. We'll have to tell Ms. Libra about that, too. You can talk to snakes," I informed Harry.

Harry's eyes grew as wide as golf balls. "That is so cool."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "Maybe we'll get a corn snake or something. Did I ever tell you that i used to catch rattlers for a living? See, I worked at Boy Scout Camp in Arizona, and one of my jobs was to catch rattlers that got into people's campsites. Now, this one time-"

The day went by as most Monday's did, though as an extra bonus since it was nearly December I could start threatening kids with Santa if they were naughty. That sort of made me homesick, though. Technically, it had been Thanksgiving the week before, though like the uncultured barbarians that they were the brits didn't celebrate it, nor the time honored consumerism orgy that is Black Friday. Harry and I had made a nice roast chicken though, and while it had been fun I missed my family. Technically, my family didn't exist yet. My parents were newly weds (probably, assuming they existed in this timeline) and I wouldn't even be born for a good long while.

That meant that Christmas was going to be sort of a bummer. I had a kid of my own, but he wasn't going to get to meet his grandparents or anything. I'd always wanted to give my parents a grandkid to spoil, but now it looked like I was a temporal orphan. Seriously, time travel should be illegal or something. It makes figuring out your family tree really complicated.

Anyway, Harry and I made spaghetti with meat sauce using an old family recipe that probably didn't exist yet, along with some garlic bread. I picked out a bottle of wine after asking the nice lady at the store just what sort of wine one served with italian food. I wasn't trying to become a drunk or anything, but the idea of not being sober when we discussed how to rescue a mad man from hell and turn a rat back into a mass murderer was somehow strangely appealing.

Libra showed up at five after seven, looking rather worn out.

"Come on in," I told her. "Got dinner on the stove ready to serve. Hope you like italian."

"Sounds lovely," Libra said in a tone that indicated she'd rather eat nails.

"Or, er, I've got some beef stew in the fridge if that sounds better," I offered.

"No, the foods fine. It's the dinner conversation that I'm dreading," Libra said, smiling at me. "Sorry. I'm sure the food will be delicious."

"Ms. Libra!" Harry said, running in with red sauce smeared on his face and flour on his hands. "Dad says I can talk to snakes!"

Libra gave me a puzzled expression, and I grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, why don't we sit down and we can figure it out later."

We washed up sat down at the table, and Libra reached for the bread. She paused when she saw Harry bow his head and close his eyes. I cleared my throat. "Let's say grace."

"Heavenly father, I thank you that you sent Libra to Harry and I, someone who knows what's going on in this messed up world and can help us stay safe and figure out what to do. I thank you that we've stayed safe so far. We ask that you'd protect us from evil, especially those that would want to separate this family. We ask for wisdom and guidance as we form our plans, and that you'd bless this food to our bodies."

"Amen," Harry said, springing for the food like a starving mountain lion.

Libra took food in silence, and I felt sort of nervous as she ate with out comment for a moment, her expression that of someone who was mentally far away. Thankfully, Harry was there to help avoid any awkward pauses.

"So I was thinking," Harry said. "If I can talk to snakes, maybe we should get an anaconda. I can train it to-"

"Chew before you talk," I told Harry. "Wine, Libra?"

"Mmm," said replied, and I poured her a glass. I took water for myself, figuring I'd best go easy for now if I wanted to avoid another hangover.

"-it would be really useful. I bet Tom can't talk to snakes, and we could use an anaconda to bite him and poison him if he ever attacked," Harry declared.

"Actually, it's pretty likely you got your ability to talk to snakes from Tom," I told Harry. "Also, anaconda's are constrictors."

That caused Libra to look up in surprise. "What? How?"

"Ehhh," I realized I might have said more than I wanted. I thought about it, chewing on some garlic bread, then shrugged. "See, Harry's got a bit of Tom's soul in him."

Harry and Libra's eyes both just about bugged out of their heads, and I hastily went on. "When Tom came to kill Harry, he was trying to create a phylactery. It was called a horcrux. Phylactery is just the term in DnD, but it's the same thing. A container that contains a bit of an evil spell caster's soul. Instead of turning whatever it was he brought to use Harry's soul to make a phylactery from into a horcrux, he turned Harry into one instead. It gave them some sort of psychic link or something. Harry also got a few of Tom's powers. Like speaking to snakes."

"That...that sounds impossible," Libra said, shaking her head incredulously.

I shrugged. "I know zilch about magic. Don't ask me how it's done, I only know that that's what supposed to have happened. Like the thing with Sirius Black being innocent and Peter turning into a rat to hide."

Harry had gone white, and in a small voice he asked, "Does that mean I'm evil, like Tom?"

"Hey, no, it's not like that at all," I told Harry, slipping out of my chair to kneel by his and give him a hug. "See...the bit of Tom's soul was very small, and very sick. He'd done so many wicked things and made so many phylacteries that there wasn't much of a soul left. Your soul was too strong. It overpowered the bit of Tom. You already beat him, don't worry about it."

Harry nodded, wiping tears with the back of his hand. "Does that mean I can't have an anaconda?"

"How about we start with a garter snake or something and work our way up from there," I chuckled.

I went back to my chair, and looked to Libra. "So, about Dumbledore. I confess, I've only read about him, and it's entirely possible that the author was biased. What was your experience with him?"

Libra toyed with her food for a moment, before sighing and setting down her fork to pick up her glass of wine. She took a long sip, then set the glass down. "It was...it was a long time ago. I was only 11. I never actually saw him in person."

"But your mother tried to get him to help you, when she found out you didn't have any magic, right?" I asked.

"Yes. And he turned her down," Libra said, looking up and meeting my eyes. Her eyes were burning with hatred, something I hadn't seen from Libra before, and it shocked me.

"But why?" I asked. "He's supposed to be some sort of hero."

"He's no hero," Libra spat. "He told my mother Hogwarts was no place for someone like me. He wanted nothing to do with a squib. For all his rhetoric about championing muggles, he had no interest in actually doing something for a person without magic when it wouldn't bring him fame or glory."

"Would he try to take me away from dad?" Harry asked, looking frightened.

Libra's expression softened. "I don't know. But probably. There would be plenty of fame and glory in taking care of the great and famous Harry Potter. He'd probably scoop you up and let you live in that castle like his own child. Or, failing that, put you with a family loyal to him and raise you as his grandchild."

"But I don't want to leave," Harry blurted. "I want to stay here. With dad and you."

Libra gave me a startled look at that, and I shrugged. "I told him you were the only other person we could trust with stuff about magic. Frankly, you're also the only real friend I have."

"That's...that's kind of you, David," Libra said slowly. "I think...I think perhaps we can be friends."

"More than that," I said. "We can be allies. If something comes up, you can come to me, and we can help each other."

"And me," Harry offered. "Like, if you have any snakes you need to talk to."

Libra bit her cheek, fighting back a smile. "If I ever have a snake that needs talking to, you will be the first person I ask, Harry."

"So just telling Dumbledore is out," I said slowly. "And probably the ministry too."

"Oh?" Libra said. "I thought perhaps we might try contacting them. I'm not sure how, I have no idea where the Ministry is, but it's worth a try."

"No good. Lucius Malfoy probably has the whole place in his pocket by now." I could tell by Libra's expression she knew who I was talking about. "I still think that letting Dumbledore know is our best bet, even if we don't contact him directly. He's the Chief Warlock of the Wizgamot, right?"

"Wizengamot," Libra corrected. "And yes, that is true. But, would he act?"

"I mean, the Weasleys are some of Dumbledore's strongest supporters," I said. "At least, I think they should be. Plus, if he's a glory hound, finding the real traitor and freeing a man wrongly imprisoned would be a pretty good deal for him, right?"

"I suppose," Libra admitted. "Still, if he finds out, he'll try and obliviate the both of us. And...well, I don't want to lose my memories, thank you very much."

"Yeah that's sort of a personal nightmare of mine," I admitted. "Plus, I'm sort of attached to Harry."

"Perhaps we can get a message to Dumbledore," Libra mused. "But it would be important that it's anonymous. We need him to act in good faith, and I don't know that he'd act on something from a muggle and a squib."

"What, do we have to kidnap an owl or something?" I asked Libra. "I'm thinking we couldn't just go to Diagon Alley and rent one."

"Actually, you can do just that, but I don't want either of us risking getting swept up," Libra said.

I nodded slowly. "Right. So we have to find a way to sneak a message to Dumbledore. Maybe we could go through one of his spies, like Ms. Figg."

"Ms. Figg worked for the wizards? I thought she was just a crazy lady who liked cats," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, those cats are keezles which are like super magic cats. She was supposed to keep an eye on you for Dumbledore," I told Harry.

"You mean kneazles?" Libra asked. "But I didn't realize Dumbledore had a spy."

"Relax, it's been like two months, there's no way she knows-"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. I wiped my mouth with a napkin and stood. "I'll get it, probably my landlady, rent's due in a couple days."

I walked to the door and opened it, and just about crapped my pants.

"Good evening," said the elderly gentleman with a flowing white beard in a lime green suit with a sky blue neck tie that was right out of the 20s. He held up a tray of treacle tart. "Is this the Murphy residence? I was hoping we could have a chat over pudding."

"We don't want any adventures here," I told him, and shut the door.

I ran back to the table. "Libra, Harry. Dumbledore's at the door. I think we're screwed."

 _Authors Note:_

 _A special thanks for the outpouring of support from all my readers. Originally, this chapter was as far as I had written in what was just supposed to be just a short writing exercise to improve my craft. Since you've all enjoyed it so much, I've been motivated to continue, and now I can guarantee there will be quite a bit more to come._

 _Thanks for reading and reviewing_

 _-mugglesftw (Definitely not David Murphy)_


	5. Chapter 5

Libra stood bolt upright, knocking over her plate of spaghetti. All the color went out of her face. "Are you serious?" she demanded. "How could he-"

There was another polite knock at the door. Harry attached himself to my leg, starting to cry. "I don't want them to take you away!"

"Oh God please help," I murmured. I picked Harry up and handed him to Libra. "Go hide in the bedroom. I'll try and stall him. If you can, run. We're only on the third floor so it might be possible. Good luck."

I turned around and went back to the door. My hand trembled as I slowly reached out and opened it. I took a deep breath, forced myself to calm, and schooled my face into a neutral expression. I opened the door and smiled. "Yes?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he examined me, holding his pudding with a cane draped over one arm. "Mr. Murphy, isn't it? You're Harry Potter's foster father? I'm an old family friend, Albus-"

"Albus Percival Brian Wolfenbach Dumbledore, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Slayer of Grindelwald, Keeper of the Elder Wand, the first of his name," I finished for him.

This brought the old man up short. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, then cleared his throat. "Well, perhaps we should prevent young Harry and Miss Macnair from jumping out the window, hmm? It seems we have much more to discuss than I originally thought. Also, it's Wulfric."

"Beg pardon?"

"It's not Wulfenbach, it's Wulfric. Still, I really do feel we should keep your friends from jumping out the window. I promise, I'm only here for pudding, and perhaps to discuss Harry's future."

"And maybe obliviate a few poor saps while you're at it?" I prompted.

Dumbledore looked wounded. "Mr. Murphy, I promise that I will not obliviate anyone tonight, especially not you or Miss Macnair. Oh, and I did not slay Gellert, though I confess that is a somewhat common misconception amidst the youth of today."

"Oh yeah, I guess he is in German Azkaban," I admitted. "Still, it's sort of disturbing that wizard Hitler is still kicking around."

Dumbledore seemed to look right through the wall towards my bedroom. "Really, Mr. Murphy, I think we should stop Miss Mcnair from jumping out of the window. I swear that I mean no harm to you or any other members of your household."

I sighed, and stepped aside. "Fine, I'll get them. Not like I could stop you from doing whatever the hell you want anyway."

I peeked my head into my bedroom, where Libra was tying together my bedsheets to make a rope. "The jig is up. We might as well sit and talk with the old man. He figured out what you were up to. Sorry."

Libra threw down the bedsheets in disgust. "I hate this! I hate being so powerless, having no control, those damn wizards can just do whatever they want to us!" She started weeping bitter tears, and Harry started crying as well, clutching onto his stuffed dinosaur.

I pulled them both into a hug. "Hey, it's OK. We'll all be together. We can get through this. Come on, what's that funny british saying? Keep a stiff upper lip? You're tough, we can handle this together."

LIbra nodded, taking a tissue from my nightstand and wiping her eyes. "Fine. We'll go confront the old bastard. Perhaps we can convince him not to make us forget we were ever born."

"I don't want to go!" Harry wailed, wrapping himself around my leg. "I don't want to live with any stupid wizards, or go back to the Dursleys! They hate me!"

I gently pried Harry off of my leg and picked him up, hugging him close. He was getting a bit big for that, but he wasn't yet to large to handle. "It's alright big guy. You're a wizard too, remember? I bet you can take him, sic a snake on him or something."

Harry hiccupped and nodded, resting his head on my shoulder. Libra put her arm around Harry and me, and together we walked back to the kitchen, where Oz the Great and Terrible was waiting. Except he wasn't just a man behind the curtain. This son of a bitch had more power than any Wicked Witch of the West ever did.

Dumbledore looked rather perplexed and concerned as we made our way in. He was sitting at the fourth place at my table, a serving of treacle tart on his plate along with some garlic bread. He'd helped himself to some wine as well, though everyone's glasses were filled now.

"I am sorry, I didn't realize you would find my presence so disturbing," Dumbledore said, standing as we entered. "I had thought to find Mr. Murphy and Harry alone, and talk with you later, Miss Mcnair. I must say, it was so very fortunate that you were assigned as Harry's case worker. I am glad that you managed to do so nicely for yourself after your mother took my advice."

"What advice," Libra spat, glaring at Dumbledore as she squeezed herself closer to Harry and I. I squeezed back. This was pretty scary.

"Why, to give you over to muggle children's services. I told her that it was the safest route, that I could help her hide you so that no Death Eater or Volde-"

"Let's just call him Tom, alright," I said quickly. "Don't want to trigger that hex thing he put on his name."

Dumbledore was quiet for a long time, studying me intently. After a few moments, he spoke. "I confess, I thought you to be just a very kind muggle man, Mr. Murphy. I see now that you are quite the accomplished, and dare I say well informed, wizard. Especially for an American Wizard."

"I'm a wizard?" I asked, perplexed.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Please, Mr. Murphy, no need to play the fool. I have rarely met such an accomplished occlumens in my lifetime, and that is saying something."

Libra and I shared a look. "What's an occlumens?" she asked.

"It means you've got some sort of anti-mind reading powers," I told her. "I think. Not real sure. My, er, knowledge of it is somewhat vague."

"You can't take my daddy," Harry suddenly said, clutching to me tightly and glaring at Dumbledore. "He can beat up bad guys real good. And I can talk to snakes, and make them eat you if you try to take them."

"Harry, let's not threaten the most powerful wizard in Britain and wielder of the +10 Wand of Death," I said quickly.

Dumbledore frowned, tilting his head to one side. "Harry, you can talk to snakes?"

"I beat up Tom and got it from him," Harry declared. "I can use it to make rattlers bite you. Dad says he used to catch them with his bare hands!"

"That was one time, and like I said, only because I was an idiot," I quickly clarified. "And for the record, it still bit me, and it still hurt like a son of a gun. Lucky it was just a baby."

Dumbledore slowly sat back in his chair, taking the glass of wine and taking a sip. "This is...this is not quite what I expected when I decided to pay you a visit this evening, Mr. Murphy. Please, sit down. It seems we both have quite a bit of explaining to do."

We slowly sat across from Dumbledore, Libra and I scooted our chairs together until they touched, and me putting Harry in my lap.

"Why don't I start," Dumbledore said.. "My name is, as you apparently already know, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. This is the correct order of the names, and pronunciation, though I confess even I forget some of them sometimes. Please, call me Albus, or Dumbledore. As for the titles, I believe that only the fact that I was a friend of Harry's parents is truly relevant, though I am also the Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"I came here tonight as I only recently discovered Harry's current whereabouts. I was assured he was quite safe, and indeed, he seems to be doing rather well for himself and love you dearly, Mr. Murphy. I only wished to inform you of some of the dangers that could pursue Harry, and offer my help, advise, and possible magical protection if that were necessary."

"Sure, you help Harry Potter," Libra growled, pointing an accusatory finger at Dumbledore. "But you wouldn't help me when my father and brother would have been happy to kill me!"

Dumbledore looked deeply pained by this statement. He licked his lips, then spoke in an injured tone. "But my dear, I did offer to help your mother when she came to me. I knew full well that your father, Wachusett Macnair would kill a squib if given the chance, even if she were his own daughter."

"But my mother told me you refused her and abandoned us!" Libra said, her tone ragged as her eyes filled with tears. "I haven't seen my mother since...since she left me! For all I know my entire family is dead!"

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "Lyra is alive and well, my dear, as is your brother Walden, though your father was killed in the last war. If she heeded my advice, she might have visited you on occasion, though it would have been safer not to see you. I confess, after our first meeting I feared she would not listen to me."

"Why, what did you do?" Libra demanded. Her voice was trembling, and a put a tentative hand on her shoulder. She didn't shake it off, instead putting her own hand on top of mine.

"I told her I could neither give you magic, despite my prowess at alchemy, nor house you at Hogwarts, despite being it's headmaster. Hogwarts is not a place for non magical children, and I am only its headmaster; not its king. The Board of Governors would rightly object, and frankly I had neither the time nor the energy to properly look after a young girl. I offered her an alternative, which she did take eventually: Offer you up for adoption in the muggle world, perhaps to one of the squib families I kept in contact with. They could spirit you away somewhere safe, hiding in plain sight in a world your father and brother had no interest in, and would never visit."

"But...I...she never...I thought…." Libra broke down sobbing, and I rubbed her back.

"It's alright. Let it all out. I'm here for you, Libra. So's Harry."

Harry reached out and hugged Libra, who grabbed onto him, then pulled all three of us into a hug. After several minutes, she composed herself, wiping her eyes dry. "She said she would come get me, when it was safe," Libra said, her voice still cracked and trembling. "That it was Dumbledore's fault she had to leave me. She just left me at a muggle church, with a note saying my father wanted to kill both of us, and that she feared for her life. I thought she went into hiding, and my father found her and killed her!"

"I'm afraid Lyra returned to her husband the same day you vanished," Dumbledore said gently. "She claimed to have killed you herself, according to rumor. I feared that to be the case, until I checked in on you. Once I found out you were well, I had to withdraw. Too much attention from myself would have alerted your father to your whereabouts. I assumed that your mother would keep an eye on you. I apologize my dear, that seems to not have been the case."

"You've got a pretty terrible track record when it comes to keeping track of kids," I growled. "You put Harry with the Dursleys. And don't feed me any hogwash about it being for his own good and bloodwards. He was abused. Starved, neglected, and beaten. You're just lucky I got here in time."

"That, I confess, is much more my responsibility," Dumbledore admitted. "But you see, it was in the Potter's will. Lilly always thought her sister would come around eventually, and that if she were killed that the home of her sister who had a child close to Harry's age would be the best place for him. I had no control in that regard, though I also admit that I believed it to be the best place for Harry."

"Oh." I sat back, frowning. "OK, that makes sense. But what about Sirius Black?"

"I...pardon?" Dumbledore stared at me as if I had grown two heads. "Mr. Murphy, I confess, for someone who claims not to be a wizard, you seem to know a great deal, have odd powers, and bring up the most interesting topics of discussion."

"He's from the future," Harry said proudly. "He came back just to save me."

Dead silence. Dumbledore's eyes grew wide as he stared at me. I coughed into my fist. "Well, to be fair, I have no idea if I'm from your future or an alternate timeline, or if I'm in some sort of coma and this is all a fever dream. Frankly though I hold to multiverse theory that I only have knowledge of a probable future but my very presence has irrevocably altered the present timeline so that it could never have flawless knowledge of future events."

"And what does this have to do with Sirius Black?" Dumbledore asked in a weak voice.

"Oh, I think he's innocent and that Peter Pettigrew is a...a, er, what was it?"

"Animagus," Libra supplied. "He claims that Peter Pettigrew is a rat animagus and is with Percy Weasley as a pet."

"Yeah, he's biding his time until Tom comes back so he can help resurrect him," I offered. "He cuts off his hand and stuff."

Dumbledore gaped at me for a moment, then slowly closed his mouth. "I...see. I suppose that could prove the claim that you are from the future. This is most unsettling, I confess. Tell me, at what time do you foresee the return of Tom?"

"Six years from now, give or take a month or two," I answered. "Though he doesn't get his body back until around three years after that."

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "Then we have some time, at least. I always feared that he would return. Why don't you start from the beginning, Mr. Murphy. Just who are you, and why are you here?" Dumbledore asked. "Understand, while I do not generally involve myself in conflict, I have a rather vested interest in the safety and wellbeing of Harry here both as a friend of the family and his future educator."

So, once more, I told the tale of how I'd ended up here. Which basically amounted to "I showed up five and a half months ago and have no idea why."

"That is fascinating," Dumbledore murmured. "But tell me, do you know of any magic from where, or should I say when, you were originally from that could bring you here?"

"Well that's the rub actually. I don't think there was any magic where I'm from. Or if there is, I haven't a clue that it ever existed," I admitted.

"But then how do you know so much about magic?" Dumbledore asked. "And about Harry's abilities and future."

"Er, well, see, it's because I read a children's book series by a woman named JK Rowling," I admitted. "They also made some movies. They were called the Harry Potter series, there were seven books. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince, and Deathly Hallows."

Dumbledore regarded me for a long time, leaning back in his chair. Libra and I shifted nervously, still holding on to each other for dear life. I was pretty sure Dumbledore wasn't going to kill us or anything now, but the idea that someone so powerful was in the same room as I was quite literally terrifying. Suddenly, I understood how Lex Luthor felt about Superman.

"The titles of the books already tell me a great deal," Dumbledore finally said, refilling his wine glass. "And I must say they strike a worrisome tone. You talk of some of the most powerful and dangerous artefacts in the entire world, as well as some of the most powerful and dangerous individuals. Let us, for now, limit ourselves to the topic of Sirius Black. If this is so, it would be somewhat easy to prove that you do indeed have knowledge that could only be obtained from the future, Mr. Murphy."

"It all started the day after Tom's physical form was destroyed," I said. "Sirius Black had not, in fact, been the secret keeper for the Potters. Due to some psychological issues that I think stemmed from the fact that Black always feared his own heritage would lead him down a dark path, he had convinced James Potter that their friend Peter, not himself, would be a better secret keeper. Black would pretend to be the keeper in public, but in secret it would in fact be Pettigrew's."

"Already your tale has the ring of truth," Dumbledore murmured, stroking his beard. "Sirius was always one to present a brave face while having crippling self doubt. I tried to help him with that in his youth, but alas, I am but a teacher of alchemy and transfiguration."

"Yeah well, Sirius was the first one on the scene, as you know," I continued. "He found Harry in his cradle, with the house at Godric's Hollow wrecked, James and Lily dead, and Tom nowhere to be found."

Harry let out a whimper, and I kissed the top of his head as he buried his face in my shoulder. "It's alright kiddo. Better you hear this now instead of wondering. Anyway, Hagrid showed up next. As near as I can tell, Sirius fell into a deep depression that lead to a fit of rage. He blamed Peter for the tragedy sure, but mostly he blamed himself. In fact, he seems to have believed that it was he who killed the Potters. He handed Harry off to Hagrid, as you know, and took off after Peter."

"I can confirm that did indeed happen, though that chain of events is somewhat well known," Dumbledore agreed. "If not the motivation behind them."

"Right, but what happened next isn't. Black found Peter, and he was ready to kill him, no question. He probably tried to, but before he could, Peter did something he didn't expect. He publicly blamed SIrius for killing the Potters. Black, in his grief, hesitated. And that was when Peter struck. He blew up the city block, killing a dozen innocent bystanders. Then he cut off his own finger and dropped it, turning into a rat and running away."

Black, for his own part, was consumed with grief. I'm not sure if he thought he had killed Peter, or if Peter had committed suicide, but either way he believed Pettigrew was gone. When the aurors caught up to him, Black admitted guilt. He was more than happy to confirm that he killed the Potters, and that he killed Peter. With that confirmed, everyone assumed he was guilty. Then, you never gave him a trial."

Dumbledore started. "No, but I am not responsible for bringing anyone to trail, that is the responsibility of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"But you're Chief Warlock," Libra stated. "You're in charge of the Wizengamot."

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded, and leaned forward. "That is the case. But I think you somewhat overestimate both my power and responsibilities as Chief Warlock."

"That makes you like, head justice or something, right?" I prompted. "In charge of the magical supreme court, or whatever the equivalent is here."

"The position of Chief Warlock has little real power," Dumbledore corrected. "I am not, in fact, even a member of the ruling body of the Wizengamot. My responsibilities are to maintain order and discipline and to ensure that all procedures are followed correctly in the court. While I do call the Wizengamot to order, I do not call it into session. I do not even have a vote as to the guilt or innocence of those tried, I merely count the votes. The Chief Warlock is a non-voting member of the body. I'm more of a secretary really. It is why the position is a largely ceremonial honor, and not one that comes with any real power, hence why I accepted it."

"So….so you couldn't have called for a trial for Sirius Black?" I asked.

"I could have, and did," Dumbledore stated. "As was my duty to ensure the body followed all procedures and rules. However, as he had confessed his guilt, the Director of Magical Law Enforcement moved to suspend the trial, as was her right. The motion was approved by the Minister for Magic, and the Wizengamot moved on to other trials and matters."

"Oh." I sat back, feeling confused. "But, then how do you use all your political power to influence the Ministry?"

"A common misconception. I have no political power, only influence. And I exercise that frugally. I can advise, I can call for compliance with the rules in regards to Wizengamot matters, and I can ask for personal favors, which I do with extreme caution. I am a mere teacher, Mr. Murphy. Perhaps a clever and very gifted one, but an educator only. Would you presume to tell the Prime Minister or other officials how to do their jobs?"

"Well no," I admitted. "But I'm not some super powerful wizard with a bunch of fancy titles."

"A point," Dumbledore admitted. "Perhaps there have been cases, such as may be the case with Sirius Black, where I should have exerted more political pressure. However, I believe that I am not suited to political machinations beyond the need to wrangle more funding out of the Board of Governors."

"Because of your sister," I said, nodding.

Dumbledore immediately looked thunderstruck. He sank back in his chair, looking wounded. Libra looked back and forth between the two of us, confused as to how a simple phrase like that could have so cut so deep with the old wizard.

I quickly back peddled. "Let's um, let's table that line of discussion for later. Anyway, in the books I read, Sirius eventually found out Peter was still alive when he saw a picture of him with Percy Weasley in the newspapers. I think they won some contest or award or something. Sirius realized that Peter was alive, and that as Percy's pet he would go to Hogwarts with Harry. Despite years of torture from the Dementors, Black was still mostly sane thanks to his ability to turn into a dog."

"He can what?" Dumbledore demanded, startled.

"He's an animagus too," I stated. "So was James Potter. They did it because Remus Lupin's a werewolf, and they wanted to spend full moons with him. Which actually brings up the next point: this was during Harry's third year at Hogwarts, and you hired Remus Lupin to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for that year after your last two had some, um, problems we can discuss later. So, Black turned into a dog and escaped Azkaban as apparently dementors don't have the ability to sense animals. He made his way to Hogwarts, and found Peter."

"However, as you can imagine the whole country was on the hunt for someone everyone believed to be a dangerous madman who was once Tom's right hand man. Black, still consumed by rage and grief, made no effort to clear his name. He kidnapped Ron Weasley, Percy's little brother, along with the rat. Lupin went to confront him, and saw Peter. He attempted help Black and save Ron, which was when as usual, Severus Snape showed up and made everything worse."

"Severus Snape is-" Dumbledore began, but I waved my hand to cut him off.

"Not on Tom's side, I know. He's still a massive jerk. He saw Black and Lupin, jumped to the conclusion that they were in cahoots because he hates both of them. In the ensuing chaos, Peter escaped, Lupin turned into a werewolf and tried to kill Snape again, and Black had to try to control his now monstrous friend. Black ended up unable to clear his name or kill Peter, which would come back to haunt everyone as it eventually led both to his and Lupin's deaths. And also Snape's, so there was some value to it."

Dumbledore stroked his beard, looking concerned. "If this is true, then there is both an innocent man in Azkaban, and a very dangerous Death Eater on the loose."

"Like I said, he's with Percy Weasley. Probably at the Burrow."

Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Before I leave, however, answer me one question, Mr. Murphy. If you are no wizard, as you claim, how are you so adept at occlumency?"

"Because I have a clean mind?" I ventured. "I don't know, were you trying to read my mind?"

"I was," Dumbledore admitted. "When you revealed you know I possessed the elder wand, I attempted to use legilimency on you. I have also used it on Harry and Miss Macnair as well as using a listening charm on you earlier. I promise, I am not after any deep secrets, I only wished to confirm that Harry was indeed in good hands. He seems very happy, and is only frightened of me. While that is troubling and concerning, I think it stems from your fear of myself, which I do not understand."

"Why shouldn't we be afraid of you?" Libra demanded. "Even if you didn't turn your back on me all those years ago and you want to help Harry, you're still a wizard. You'll sick the obliviators on us and take him away in a heartbeat."

"I will not," Dumbledore stated firmly. "Harry is safe and happy here. While I do not understand everything that is going on, I also believe that at least for now he is in the right place. I find it worrisome that you refuse to tell me how you learned occlumency, but until I can confirm your story I will trouble you no further."

"So, that's it?" I asked skeptically. "You're just going to leave?"

"Not quite. Bear with me a moment, while I use my wand. I wish to place a few protections upon this place against any allies of Tom," Dumbledore stated.

I looked nervously to Libra. She squeezed my hand under the table. "It's not like we can do anything about it," she said bitterly.

"I will be brief," Dumbledore promised. He drew his wand and said some stuff in funny latin, waving it about. "That will alert me if any one who means you or Harry harm enters this home. I also laid a few charms on Harry to keep him protected, now that the old blood wards are wearing thin."

"Crap," I muttered. "Those are gone?"

"Not yet," Dumbledore stated. "While he no longer call's his aunt's residence home, they will last a few months more. They will survive until the start of next term, I should think."

"You're not going to try to make him stay with that bunch of wackos?" I demanded.

Dumbledore sighed. "I would, in fact, like to see Harry as protected as can be, even if it meant staying with the Dursleys. However that is a discussion for another time. For now, he is safe, happy, and well cared for. That is enough for now. And, finally, the most important part of the evening."

I felt my eyes go wide, and Libra and I shared a panic stricken glance as I hugged Harry close. Was this where Dumbledore revealed himself as the Machiavellian puppet master?

He took a knife, and cut four pieces of treacle tart, which he passed around the table. "I hope you like treacle tart!"

I blinked a few times, looking at my plate, then Dumbledore, then Libra, then Harry. Harry, for his part, happily started eating the dessert. I didn't make a move to stop him, not when Dumbledore was contentedly eating his. After a long moment, I slowly let go of Libra's hand and took a bite of mine. It was very good, though it was extremely sweet. Seeing that I was eating as well, Libra reluctantly bit into hers. We ate in silence for a while, until everyone had finished.

"Well, thank you for a most enlightening evening," Dumbledore said, standing. "Harry, it was good to see you again. I am very grateful you've found such a loving home. Now, I must return to Hogwarts. Good night, and I shall contact you again soon."

"Not by owl," I said quickly.

"Not by owl," Dumbledore agreed. "I shall use the post, or perhaps visit in person. I'll see myself out."

And with that, the old wizard stood and left, leaving the three of us behind to pick up the pieces.


	6. Chapter 6

Once he was gone and the door shut, I felt a great deal of tension drain out of me. "Jesus Christ."

"Oh God," Libra moaned, resting her head in hands and slumping forward. Harry yawned.

"Come on big guy, let's get you to bed," I said. "Let's brush your teeth."

"OK," Harry agreed, hopping off my lap. "I guess Mr. Dumbledore was nice after all, huh dad?"

"So it seems," I hesitantly agreed.

Once I had Harry put down, I came back out to where Libra was still sitting at the table. She had raised her head, but was looking off into the middle distance at nothing, a look of sorrow on her face.

I was tempted to say something, but instead I started cleaning up the dinner dishes. I noticed the spaghetti that was spilled earlier had utterly vanished, and that the plate was neatly on the table as clean as a whistle. I shook my head, trying to wrap my mind around it. I mean, I had conceptually understood magic was real now, and I had seen Harry do that psychic paper thing, but to have something so concrete in my hands? That was nuts.

Also, apparently I was some sort of wizard? What did that mean? Did I need a wand? Did I need to go to Hogwarts? I mean, I was a little old, but I'd daydreamed about that for ages. But I didn't feel magical. I'd never done anything odd or magic like, at least not that I could recall. Was that how I ended up here? I didn't know.

Finally I sat down with Libra. I hefted the wine bottle and was surprised to find it was completely full. "Freakin' magic," I muttered, pouring out two more glasses.

"What did he mean?" Libra said, turning to meet my gaze as I took a sip of wine. "About you having magic?"

"Honestly? I haven't a clue," I answered. "I mean, I don't recall ever doing anything even slightly magical. Well, other than waking up two years before I was born in a country I hadn't been within a thousand miles of for ten years."

Libra nodded slowly. "I don't think you're holding out on me." She took her glass and drained it in one go, shaking her head. "You don't act like a wizard."

"How so?" I asked, leaning back and taking a long swig.

"You're just... I don't know. Normal? No, that's not the right world. You're odd, but in a very unmagical way."

"Gee thanks, toots," I muttered.

Libra ignored me. "It's like...its like you don't expect the world to conform to your every wish and desire. Wizards and witches...they just believe they can impose their will on the universe. That things will happen just because they wish it so. You frequently seem so lost and confused by everything, but you try your best anyway and work with what you have."

"I mean, it would be super cool if I did have magic," I admitted. Libra gave me a nasty look, and I shrugged. "Hey, we both grew up wishing we could hop on a train to Hogwarts. Me, I never believed that was a possibility. It was worse for you: you had that taken away from you. I can't imagine what that must have been like."

Libra looked away tears in her eyes. "Yes. I don't think I ever forgave my parents for that. Or myself."

"Hey, you're pretty awesome," I said, leaning forward to reach for one of her hands, then stopping myself and taking the bottle instead. It was emptying now. Whatever spell Dumbledore put on it must have worn off. "I mean, instead of running away screaming when I told you my nutso story, or just ditching us because you could be in danger, you helped Harry and I. I've said thanks before, but I mean it. Thank you. I don't know what I would have done if I had never found anyone to talk to. Gone even more nuts probably."

Libra started giggling, and then hiccuped several times. "Do you know, I was torn between terrified and ecstatic when I found out you knew about magic? I'd been hiding my whole life. I lived in constant fear someone magical would find me and do awful things to me. But I missed it so much, you know. I've always felt like I'm a stranger, like everyone around me could never know the real me because they could never know magic was real. I stayed away from having any close friends my entire life, both out of fear they would find out and because I just couldn't connect with them."

"And then you walked in with Harry Potter, possibly the only magical child in the whole world I would recognize. And you have this mad story, but I realized I could actually talk to you. To let you know about my history, at least a little bit. Do you know how good that felt? To carry around a secret for so long that it practically becomes a part of you, and then at long last to be able to share it? And sure, I knew it would be dangerous, but it was worth it. Not just because I wasn't going to let another child go through what I did, but because I was back in the world I grew up in, if only a little bit."

I nodded slowly. "What was it like? Growing up with magic, I mean."

"It was wonderful," Libra whispered. "The magic, at any rate. My father was a pureblood supremacist, and so was I really. I grew up hating squibs and muggles, which is a cruel irony. But oh, the magic! It felt like anything was possible. My father took me flying on a broom a few times. I've never done anything so wonderful. Going to Diagon Alley and seeing potions that could do any number of amazing things. Having food made by a house elf, waving a wand and having wondrous things appear for you. And I thought it was all mine."

"How did you find out that, you know, you-"

"Were a squib?" Libra finished. She shook her head. "By the time I was nine, my father began to suspect. I never showed any signs of magicalness. But the final straw for my mother was when she had me help her brew a potion when I was ten. I couldn't do it. I followed the directions exactly, but I just made horrid sludge. It wasn't magical at all. She cried, then. She knew Walden and my father would both be happy to kill me. Walden was in his last year at Hogwarts, he'd gone out with father and already become a Death Eater."

"So that's when she contacted Dumbledore?" I asked.

"No, she waited. Waited until the last minute," Libra said. "Neither of us wanted to believe it. It wasn't until that last summer and the days kept getting longer and no letter came. It happened so fast. She left one day, didn't tell me where. She had gone to Hogwarts, seen Dumbledore. Asked if I were in the register. I'm guessing she also demanded Dumbledore either take me on as a student or give me magic, which are both silly in retrospect. She told me she had asked him to help, to hide me from my father and brother. She blamed them, said they would kill her baby girl. But I guess...I guess she really didn't care."

"Maybe she had a good reason?" I offered. "Like, maybe she was worried that if she contacted you your father and brother might find out?"

Libra sniffed and smiled at me. "That's kind of you to say so. But...but I think maybe I've been lying to myself all these years. I didn't want to blame my mother. So I did what she did. I blamed Dumbledore. But really...she was a Blood Supremacist too. She and father had families that had been pure for six generations. I think once she was shot of me, she pretended I didn't exist. She hated me, just like my father and brother! At least she didn't want to kill me."

Then she really started weeping. I felt helpless as I usually do when I see adults cry. I mean, with kids I know what to do. You hug them and kiss the booboo and tell them it will be alright. So I put my hand on Libra's shoulder, and started to tell her it would be alright. Before I could, she turned around and started to cry on my shoulder, which was still a bit damp from when Harry had done that. I awkwardly hugged her and patted her on the back.

"It will be OK," I lied. I seriously did not think it would be OK. I couldn't figure out what was going to happen. I mean, was Dumbledore alright? He seemed alright in the books, and he'd been pleasant enough when we talked to him. But what would happen now? What if he couldn't get Sirius out? What if I had the wrong information and Sirius was guilty? What if a Death Eater got wind of where Harry was and killed us all?

But you don't say that sort of thing. You smile, hug someone, and tell them it will be alright.

After about five minutes, Libra separated from me and wiped her eyes. "Thank you," she sniffed. "That's been about 14 years in the making. You must think I'm just a weepy eyed moron."

"Nah. I feel like crying some days myself," I told her. "I'm just such a paragon of manliness that I only cry when no one is looking."

Libra put her hand on my face. "It's OK, David. It's alright to cry. My God, you must miss your family horribly. You can't even tell them you exist. They'd never believe you, and if they did, you could prevent your own future from happening. Everything you once loved and knew is gone."

Someone must have started cutting onions, because my eyes started watering something fierce. "That's not fair," I whispered. "You're not supposed to make me cry."

"We're allies, right? We'll be there for one another," Libra told me, and drew me into a hug.

For the record, I did not cry. I just had a hard time breathing, and those onions were really strong. Oh, who am I kidding, I bawled like a baby. It felt like it all slammed home at that moment.

Dumbledore was here. Harry was in danger. I could never see my family again. Whatever happened, I was stuck. I was lost and alone in a world of wizards without a drop of power myself.

Well, not alone.

"At least we can be cry babies together," I said, wiping my eyes and drawing away from Libra. "Christ, we're a mess."

"We'll be a mess together," Libra said.

We sat there for a while in silence, trying not to think about the future.

Finally, Libra cleared her throat. "I don't really feel like going home tonight. I don't want to be alone."

"That's probably a good idea," I said. "I'll take the couch. You can have my bed."

Libra gave me a weird look, which I didn't get. "Or you can have the couch?" I said. "Up to you."

"I'll take the bed, thank you," Libra said slowly.

I yawned and nodded, heading over to the couch to lay down. "Good idea. Work comes early in the morning, and it's after 11 now."

I grabbed the pillows and shoved them to the end of the couch, laying down so that I could see the door.

Libra walked over, resting her hand on my head. I looked up. "Yes?"

"Good night, David," she finally said. "I think Dumbledore was right about one thing."

"Oh?"

"Harry does have a good and loving home."

With that perplexing statement, Libra turned the light off and left. I heard the door to my room shut, and closed my eyes. It was a long time before I managed to get to sleep, and my dreams were troubled.

The thing that struck me the next morning was how horribly normal the next morning was. Harry was the first one up, and got breakfast started, putting a pot of oats and water with a spoonful of bacon grease on the stove. I dragged myself out of bed, pausing at my door, which I knocked on twice.

"Hey, Libra, am I good to come in? My clothes and stuff for work are in there."

"You're fine," she said.

I kept my eyes off of her, as Libra seemed to have at least taken off her blouse before laying down, and she didn't have the covers all the way up.

"Sleep OK?" I said as I grabbed clothes and my keys.

"I've had better," Libra said.

"Same. Well, I'll hit the shower. Oatmeal for breakfast."

Breakfast was what Harry and I usually had. Oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins. Harry caught the subdued tone from Libra and I as we sat around the table, and stayed mostly quiet.

"Let's pray," I said before we tucked in.

I held out my hand to Harry, and he took it. Libra took the other after a moment's hesitation. My mind was shot, so I just did the old standard.

"Our father who lives in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil One. For yours is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, forever and ever, amen."

We ate, then it was time to head out for school.

"Take this," I told Libra, grabbing a spare key from the drawer. "Should have given you one a while ago really. Just in case."

Libra studied the key, then me. "You are utterly inconceivable, you know that?"

"You keepa using that word. I donna think it means what you think it means," I answered.

Libra just blinked at me.

"Oh come on! That's not even a reference to a movie that came out in the future! It came out this summer, I watched in the theater like a dozen times!"

"It was pretty good," Harry said. "Even if it did have kissing."

He giggled and I high fived him.

Libra shook her head. "I don't even think I want to know."

"Princess Bride. It's still running at the discount theater across town. We've got to go see it. That's like, my favorite movie ever," I told her. "We could pick you up after school and go together. We could all use a laugh."

"That sounds...nice actually," Libra admitted.

"It's a date," I told her. I don't get why she started laughing at me. It's probably a squib thing.

We walked to school like usual. "You know you can't tell anyone about this, right?" I asked Harry as we walked. "What happened last night...it's got to be an absolute secret, OK?"

"OK," Harry said happily. "That's what you said before anyway. I can just tell you, Ms. Libra, and Mr. Dumbledore."

"Right," I agreed. "Don't stress about it. Be a normal kid. Well, a normal kid who's also a super awesome wizard. But a normal kid anyway."

The day went normally, even going to the theater with Libra after school felt normal. Nothing really weird happened. No frogs started talking, no trolls popped out of the hedges. It was freaky, really.

And that's how life went on, until before I knew it, it was Christmas break. I was increasingly concerned about the lack of news, until the day after Christmas break started we were over at Libra's apartment, watching TV as she made dinner for us.

"I'm going to have to ensure that you don't completely Americanize Harry," Libra informed me as she bustled about her little kitchenette. "So it's steak and kidney pie for the lot of you."

"Sounds good," I said. "Hey, what do you want to do about Christmas? You usually do anything for the Holidays?"

Libra paused, looking over her shoulder at me. "I somehow doubt that I'm going to get an invitation to Christmas dinner with the family."

"Well hey, why not join Harry and me?" I offered. "I'm teaching Harry how to make real pies."

"He thinks pecans go in a pie," Harry said, looking up from the TV where he was watching some cartoon. Alright, it was He-Man, and I was mildly amused.

"It's pee-khan pie," I informed him. "Jess like mah grammy used tah make it bahk in Mississippi. Ya'll gonna get some good southern eats."

"As long as you promise not to do that dreadful accent the entire time," Libra said, turning back around.

"You wound me, woman," I said as the TV went to commercial. Harry grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels. "I'll have you know, that is a flawless southern accent. Foghorn Leghorn would be proud."

"Dad, dad look!" Harry said excitedly.

I turned around to see a news caster and a photo of a scruffy looking man. "In other news today, the true mastermind between the 1981 November 1st massacre has finally been brought to justice. Sirius Black, the man initially suspected to be behind the crimes, has been found innocent, and the real killer, one Peter Pettigrew, has been brought to justice."

The scruffy photo of Black was replaced with an even more ragged rat faced guy. "Pettigrew had been hiding in a quiet village in the south of England for the last three years, but today special investigators finally caught up to him. He is being held in secrecy at a special maximum security prison."

"Well I'll be a son of a gun," I said. "That old coot actually did it. Libra, you catch that?"

"I did," Libra said, coming to stand behind me on the couch. "I guess you were right, David."

"Yeah. Kind of blows my mind actually. I mean, not even I thought this could all be real. What does it even mean?"

"It means we get to beat the bad guys," Harry declared. "Tom is going down!"

"Amen to that," I muttered. I looked up at Libra. "So what do we do now?"

She put her hand on my shoulder and smiled. "The best we can, I suppose."

Despite the nervous tension during dinner, nothing happened. Dumbledore didn't appear, which I supposed could have been due to us being at Libra's place, but I wasn't sure if I bought that.

"I'll stop by your place after work," Libra told me as Harry and I left. "If he shows up, I want to be there."

"Thanks. I'd prefer it if you were there as well. You know their world better than I do," I said. "Say goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight Ms. Libra!" Harry said.

To my surprise, she bent down and gave Harry a hug. "Goodnight, Harry." Then she turned and gave me a hug as well. "Goodnight, David."

"'Night. Take care of yourself. Call if anything comes up," I told her.

The next day I was on pins and needles the entire day. Harry was bouncing around the house, so we went out for a walk and got lunch from the pub. I said hello to a few people I knew, and asked if anyone had heard about Sirius Black.

"Sad, that," James Tanner, a man I knew from church said. "My cousin Bethie knew one of the people who that bastard Pettigrew killed. Still, it's good they finally got the right man."

That was about the extent of the conversation, everyone else turning to the latest soccer match, which I had zero interest in. After a stop by the library where I managed to find nothing that really interested me but got a few things for Harry (it really sucks when the next Brandon Sanderson novel won't be released for 20 years) we wandered back home. I pretended to read while Harry played in the front room, doing a puzzle on the table. I had always thought actually having an adventure would be exciting, with spells flying and daring do all the way. Instead, i was spending a lot of time nervously waiting for things to happen, mostly things I had little to no control over the outcome of.

When the knock came at the door, I sprang up to open it, but it was just Libra.

"Nothing yet?" she asked as she hung her jacket on the rack.

"Nada," I said. "How's pizza sound for dinner?"

"Lovely," she agreed.

"Well come on, you can help pick the toppings. Harry, wash up, let's get the dough going."

Making dinner together was pretty fun. We each tossed dough for our own personal pizzas and picked our own toppings, then put them in the oven to back. I liked pepperoni and black olives, while Harry went with sausage. Libra chose onions, olives, and mushrooms, and complained I didn't have any sardines.

"Just be grateful I didn't put pineapple and ham on them," I retorted. "Hawaiian style grinds da kine, bruddah."

"That sounds yucky," Harry stated emphatically.

"Oh I don't know, it might be nice to try at least once," Libra said.

We talked about nothing much until the pizza was done, then ate and sat around the table, wondering what to do.

"Want to play a game?" I asked. "I got a deck of cards, Monopoly, and Risk."

"Why not Monopoly," Libra said. "I liked that as a girl."

"You don't want to play dad," Harry said emphatically. "He's mean."

"Harry, I'm not mean. What did I tell you?" I asked as I retrieved the board game.

"'Harry, what is best in life?'" Harry said in a decent imitation of me. "'To crush you enemies, to have dem flee before you, and to hear de lamentations of der women.'"

"I'm so glad that movie already came out," I said happily as I set the game down. "I already can't make references to so much."

I was just handing out the cash when another knock came at the door. I just about tripped over myself to go answer it as Harry and Libra held their breaths. I opened the door to find Dumbledore standing there in the same weird lime green suit.

"Good evening, Mr. Murphy," Dumbledore said. "I trust you have heard the news already?"

"Yeah, heard it on the evening news yesterday. Come on in. We'll just put away the game and have a little chat."

"Oh, what is that?" Dumbledore said as he came into the kitchen. "Some sort of muggle money game?"

"Monopoly," I told him. "It's a board game where you try to take over the world with capitalism."

"Sounds fascinating. Would you be willing to teach me how to play? I do so enjoy learning new games, though I confess not to be very good at most of them."

I shared a glance with Libra, who shook her head and shrugged.

"Um, sure. I suppose we can do that." I ran over the rules, which Dumbledore seemed to pick up quickly enough, then passed out his money.

"So, you found the rat," I said as Harry rolled. I had house ruled that youngest player goes first, as well as putting tax money in free parking.

"Indeed, we found Peter Pettigrew right where you said he would be," Dumbledore agreed. "My turn, I think. Ah, a railroad! I do so love them, you know. I would like to purchase this one, I think. It is two hundred of these pounds?"

"But why did it take so long?" Libra asked as she dealt out the property. "We told you weeks ago."

"As I may have mentioned, I am not all powerful," Dumbledore said. "And I do have a school to run. In addition, I did some fact checking on a few of the hints that Mr. Murphy let slip during our last conversation, as well as a little searching around to see if there were any previous cases of people being lost in time."

"Sweet, Saint Charles!" I said happily. "Or Pall Mall. So, what you find out? Other people get temporally displaced like me?"

"There are hints and theories, but nothing concrete," Dumbledore replied. "It would appear for now that only that you are perhaps the first person to be so affected."

"So how did you catch the bad guys?" Harry demanded. "Did you shoot them with your wand? Also, give me your money Ms. Libra."

I gave Harry a baleful look.

"Please," he added, grinning as he got his meager earnings from a light blue.

Dumbledore chuckled and shook his head. "I try to avoid such barbaric methods as much as possible. No, I waited until the Holidays to pay a visit to the Weasley family. They have two sons enrolled at Hogwarts currently, and it did not raise many suspicions for me to pay them a visit. While there, Percy was delighted to show me his pet rat, quite of his own volition actually. I simply put the rat to sleep, remarking that I had seen it somewhere before.

"I then transformed him back to a man, proclaiming that I had recognized the rat as one I had seen at Hogwarts. I then confessed to have knowledge that Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter had been animagi, but had never raised an issue of it due to wishing to keep it secret during the war for their own safety and later because two were dead and the third imprisoned. Oh, doubles again! Ah, another railroad. I believe that according to the rules, you will now owe me fifty pounds when landing on one?"

"Uh huh. And then you got Sirius Black out quick like I suppose?" I asked. "HA! That's two oranges. Bow and Vine Street. Ya'll are goin' down."

"It was somewhat more complicated than that," Dumbledore said. "But yes, I contacted the head of the DMLE, called an emergency session of the Wizengamot at her behest, and we held a quick trial for Sirius Black. With the new evidence, such as the Dark Mark clearly visible on Pettigrew, it was fairly simple to free the innocent, and incarcerate the guilty."

"So does this mean for David's future knowledge?" Libra asked. "Harry, trade your Pentonville and Islington for my Trafalger and Piccadilly?"

"Don't do it kid, you'll give her a monopoly," I told Harry.

"Sure," Harry said happily. "I like the red ones."

"Six houses," Libra pronounced, taking them from the bank. "We've changed the future now. Whatever David knew from those books, it will be largely irrelevant."

"That was one reason I was slow to act," Dumbledore confessed. "I debated for several days as to whether we should save our advantage and determine the most advantageous time to exploit it. However, I decided I could not, in good conscious, allow an innocent man to remain imprisoned and endanger a family I hold dear in my heart through inaction."

"Huh," I mused. "That's...well, that's not the sort of person I figured you would be. But I agree, I think you did the right thing."

"I do endeavor to do so, Mr. Murphy. But pray tell, why, exactly, did you believe I would not do the right thing? You say your knowledge comes from books. What sort of a man was I in those stories?"

"One who thought he was too clever for his own good," I answered. "Hey, trade you 500 bucks for your orange."

"I rather like the color, and I believe that would give you one of those monopolies that you seem to be so fond of. But please, expound on this creature of the novels you read."

"Well," I said, eyeing the orange hungrily. If I could just get my hands on that before Libra devoured us all with her early development… "You seemed kinda blind to stuff. For example, the thing with Sirius Black. I assumed you just didn't give him a trial because the books never explained what the Chief Warlock did, but that it was in charge of the Wizengamot which was the judicial body of the magicals."

"Indeed, and the other examples? You mentioned arcane plans I believe in our previous conversation."

"There is always the amazingly incompetent series of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors," I said. "Curse on the position aside, and is that a thing, by the way? You picked some stinkers. First, you got Quirinus Quirrell, who turned out to be a wack job that made a deal with Tom in Eastern Europe and then got possessed by him. Turned to drinking unicorn blood in the Forbidden Forest while he tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone which was behind a series of obstacles that Harry and two friends managed to beat as first years and stuck in the Mirror of Desire Backwards."

"That is…" Dumbledore shook his head. "That is rather disturbing. I would like to think I would never do such a thing. What lead this version of me to do this, do you know?"

"You...dang it. Here's your money, you harpy," I told Libra, handing over my sweet, sweet Go money after landing on her double house property.

"Thanks, love. I believe I will get hotels," Libra declared.

"Freaking awesome. Sorry. Anyway, I believe first you were backed into a corner due to a dearth of applicants. Then, you figured out Quirrell was after the stone and likely working for Tom. But, you didn't realize he was possessed, and wanted to keep Voldemort's spy close so you could learn more. You had Snape, that jerk, keeping an eye on him. However, Tom tricked you and got you out of the castle, then went for the stone. I don't think he could have got it because of some trick you put on the backwards mirror where no one who wanted to use the stone could get it, but it was still super dangerous to have around kids, and like I said, Harry got through all the magic traps and nearly got killed by Tom. His mother's love protected him somehow and he beat Voldemort by turning Quirrell to dust. Don't think that will work now though. Er, that might be my fault."

"Indeed, the protection his mother laid on him will soon fade," Dumbledore agreed. "But, I do not believe Harry would ever willingly separate from you to once more call the Dursley's home his, nor would I send a child to such an abusive home if there were any other option, which I believe we may now have. Hmm. Harry, would you find it in your heart to part with that railroad for an old man? I shall give you any of my other cards. I do so like railroads."

"I want the red one and money," Harry declared. "But dad, I can find other ways to beat Tom. I could get a sword, like He Man."

"Well first you would need to get it out of the sorting hat, and I'm not having you fight another basilisk even if one does live in the school," I told Harry. I reached for the dice, but Dumbledore put his hand over mine.

"I am sorry, but I believe you just said that there was a basilisk in MY school?" The old man's grip was surprisingly tight, and his eyes were no longer twinkling. Instead, they burned with a cold pale fire. I swallowed. The facade of the genial old man was gone. Here was the man who had dueled Wizard Hitler, and won. The man Voldemort had feared.

"Yeah, it lives in the Chamber of Secrets. Tom let it out when he was in school. That's what killed Moaning Myrtle. It got let out again in Harry's second year. Petrified a bunch of kids. It kidnapped a girl who was the sister of one of Harry's friends and his future sweetheart. Well, I say it kidnapped her, but really that was the Diary Horcrux possessing her that did it. Anyway, the Chamber entrance is in Myrtle's Bathroom. You can only open it with parcel...parsley...with snake talk. Like Harry has. So it's probably safe for now."

Dumbledore stood, his eyes still blazing. "That detail is irrelevant. We must be rid of the basilisk at once. I will go to evacuate the school immediately. You say only a parselmouth can open it?"

"Yeah," I said slowly. "But Harry is the only one."

"Hmm. I will try to find a way to open the Chamber without Harry. I may know of one way, but it will be difficult. Nevertheless, I thank you for informing me of this. To have a basilisk in my school...I must go at once. There are few remaining students over the Holidays, but a basilisk would put them in extreme danger. How exactly do you open the Chamber, Mr. Murphy?"

"Find the sink in Myrtle's bathroom with a snake symbol on it and say open in snake talk," I answered. "I think someone got it open once just by hissing at it randomly, trying to copy what Harry said."

"Hmm. An excellent idea. I shall return as soon as I can." With that, Dumbledore raised his wand and vanished with a loud crack.

"Jesus!" I yelped, jumping back. "Christ almighty! Well, that got him in a hurry I guess."

"David, a basilisk is extremely dangerous," Libra informed me. "It could kill everyone in the school easily, especially if they were unawares."

"Well I know that," I said, settling back in my chair. "But good God, I didn't think it would upset him so much. They didn't even close the school over it in the book. Though I admit they didn't know it was a basilisk until after the fact."

"Maybe I can help him beat it!" Harry said excitedly. "It's some kind of snake, right? I bet I could talk to it and kill it!"

"No!" Libra and I said at the same time.

"Harry, you're a kid. No fighting evil without adult supervision until you are 18 or don't have a choice," I told him.

"Harry, I know you are very brave," Libra said. "But this is extremely dangerous. Let Dumbledore and the aurors handle this. You might be destined to defeat Tom one day, but I hope and even pray that day is a long way off indeed."

"Darn straight," I agreed. I glanced at the board, and made a face. "Well, we could grind this out, but I think you got us Libra."

"Ah, but I have not heard your lamentations yet, Mr. Murphy," Libra purred. "And I shall not be content until I do."

"Wow dad, she's almost as scary as you," Harry said.

Hubba hubba, I thought, then pushed it out of my mind. This was a life or death kind of situation. The last thing any of us needed was me pushing myself on Libra and scaring her off. I was going to need her help and support in the years to come, and there was no surer way of souring a relationship then going on a date with me. I'd gotten the "it's not you it's me" talk twice, and that was enough.

The game was still sort of fun, even if Harry did get bored and put himself to bed after another 20 minutes. I did get the oranges finally, but it turned out to be too little, too late.

"Good game," I said, handing over the last of my cash.

"It was most stimulating," Libra chuckled. "Though I find your lack of lamentations disappointing."

"Oh, woe is me, for verily, the fair maiden hath pillaged my fields, rapined my flocks, and yea, even put to the torch my dwelling places. Surely, the Lord has abandoned us. Weep, O Israel! Repent, and cry out to the Lord, that thy enemies would stay their hand and we may yet see redemption!"

Libra snorted and giggled. "Oh, that is good. I'll have to beat you again, I rather enjoy this."

"It was fun," I admitted. "Even if I did accidentally send Dumbledore on a wild basilisk hunt."

We put the pieces away in silence, lost in thought about Dumbledore's words and actions.

"You think he'll be OK?" I asked. "Dumbledore, I mean. He's supposed to be like a super magical badass, right?"

"He is the most powerful wizard alive, I believe," Libra said. "And I am certain he will have aurors and the Hogwarts staff to aide him. They'll sort that basilisk out." She stretched and yawned. "I'm exhausted. Ready for bed?"

"Yeah, probably," I said, glancing at the clock. I didn't have work in the morning, but Harry liked to get up early. "You want to stay over again, in case he comes back?"

Libra beamed at me. "That would be lovely."

"Awesome." I walked over to the closet and put the box away and grabbed a blanket. "You can have the bed again, I'll hold down the fort in here."

Libra smiled and shook her head. "As you wish."

"Goodnight Libra, sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning," I said. "Er, sorry, Princess Bride again."

"I know," she said, leaning in conspiratorially. "Mine was too."

"Huh?" I watched her go, then shrugged and turned the light off and settled down on the couch.

Man, Dumbledore was turning out very different than I remembered. Or was he? The books were sort of vague on things as they were limited to Harry's perspective. Maybe the old man had put in a lot more effort than the novels showed. Or, maybe I knew nothing, Jon Snow.

"Man, I'm never going to be alive for the Winds of Winter," I complained, then turned over and tried to go to sleep.

 _Authors Note:_

 _Writers cannot do math. I am no exception to this. You will notice that Harry is supposed to be five in this part of the story, despite it being 1986. This is obviously JK Rowling's fault as she couldn't do math either. As such, Harry was now born a year later, as was everyone else in the entire Harry Potter Universe whenever that would be relevant. All events are also moved back 1 year as well. This is because to change the year to 1985, I'd have to go back and write more than I want to as I have several things happening that rely on the story starting in 1986 and proceeding from there. This shouldn't actually affect anything, except events in the muggle world will play out a year later._

 _This actually corrects an error from the books, as now Dudley would have been able to have a playstation to chuck out his window, assuming he imported one from Japan._


	7. Chapter 7

Christmas in England was extremely disappointing. I'd lived my entire adult life either in the desert or on a tropical island, and I had half way hoped we'd get some snow and a white Christmas. Instead it was wet and cold and miserable. Oh well.

We had bigger fish to fry. Dumbledore didn't make a repeat appearance, but I resolved to make Harry's and my first Christmas together one to remember. We put up a tree (a real one, much to my internal consternation about having a fire hazard in the living room, but you can't beat that smell) and decorated it with ornaments and some lights. I even got a nice big star to put on the top.

Presents appeared under the tree, and Harry bounced around the house, excited at the prospect of getting something really good.

"Is Santa a wizard?" Harry demanded of me.

I looked over at Libra, who was spending the day with us. "Er, I don't know, actually. Is Santa real?"

Libra sipped at her tea, eyeing the two of us over her mug. I hate to say it, but I was probably as hopeful and expectant as Harry was. Santa is real? Sign me up for that. She set her cup down and smiled warmly. "Of course he is. And if you are both very good, perhaps he'll bring you something magical."

"I knew it!" Harry crowed, bouncing back over to the tree and getting down on his hands and knees to look at the presents. "I wonder what's inside! I bet I get loads of sweets!"

"Safe bet," I agreed, taking a sip of my own mug of apple cider. We'd made our own in a crockpot, and it was divine. I leaned over to Libra. "Is he really real?"

"No, but don't' tell Harry that," she whispered. I was tremendously disappointed.

"Dad, dad, what do you think Santa will bring you?!" Harry demanded.

"Santa already gave me my gift kiddo," I told him.

Harry sprang back over, looking at me eagerly. "What was it? Was it a new soccer ball?"

Libra rolled her eyes at me and muttered "Bloody yanks."

I stuck my tongue out at her, then rubbed Harry's head. His hair was no longer long and messy, instead it was the same haircut I had been giving myself (and now Harry) for years: the one that makes you look like you're going into the marines. He'd demanded he get one too when he'd see me buzzing my own head only a few weeks after he'd moved in.

"It was you, kiddo. You're the best Christmas gift a father could ask for."

Instead of the laugh or protest I'd been expecting, Harry sat down and started bawling. I panicked, kneeling down on the floor next to Harry. "Hey, hey it's OK kiddo. It's alright."

"You mean it?" Harry demanded, wrapping his arms around me and getting my sweater wet with tears and snot.

I nodded, patting his back gently. "Of course I do. Hell, getting to have you around was just about worth the whole traveling through time thing."

Harry sniffled and wiped his nose on my sleeve. Gee, thanks kid. "I love you, dad."

I felt a pang in my chest, and realized I'd never heard him say that, or said it to him before. That sort of stuff was important to a kid, even if I've never been real good about articulating or identifying my own emotions. Shoot, it had taken me three years before I got comfortable hugging kids when they needed it. "I love you too, Harry."

Harry nodded happily, then recovered and ran to his room to play with his legos. I stood and wiped the snot off my clothes with a napkin, then tossed it in the trash. I turned to find Libra smiling and shaking her head at me.

"What?" I said defensively. "I got feelings too, you know."

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed," Libra said dryly.

"Guys got lots of feelings," I stated, sitting back down and draining my mug of cider.

"You are practically dripping with feelings, David," Libra said, chuckling softly.

"Yeah, like the three H's," I said, standing to get a refill of cider.

"The three H's? I don't believe I've heard that one."

"Yeah, Happy, Hungry, and Horn-" I cut myself off and coughed into my hand.

"Oh? What was that last one?" Libra teased.

"Um, hey, would you look at the time? Hey, Harry, want to participate in a Murphy family Christmas tradition?"

"What's that?" Harry asked, poking his head out of his room.

"Well, on Christmas Eve, you get to open one present if you're real good," I told him.

Harry practically teleported next to me. "Really?" he said excitedly.

"Yep," I said, nodding. "If you behave during the Christmas Eve service, I'll let you pick out one present from under the tree and open it."

"Yes!" Harry cheered, and ran over to the tree to examine the presents.

"What about me?" Libra asked. "Do I get to participate in Murphy family traditions?"

"We've currently got a vacancy, but we're not holding tryouts just yet," I said as I watched Harry.

"Well, maybe you'll let me audition some time," Libra said, leaning in to whisper into my ear.

I jumped and looked over at her, but she just winked and grinned conspiratorially at me. "I um, I'll let you know."

The Christmas Eve service was nice enough, if a little dry for my tastes. I grew up pentecostal, which meant lots of singing and dancing and cheering, especially on what was basically Jesus' birthday party. We'd have big old church potlucks, and everyone would sing at the top of their voice while the kids jumped around and cheered.

At the little parish church Harry and I went to, we just got a candle and sang hymns quietly. I was, perhaps, a little louder and brasher than everyone else, but the regulars knew who I was by then and seemed to accept that this American wasn't fully house trained yet. Harry, interestingly enough, was taking after me, singing with gusto and seeming to enjoy himself. Libra came with us, and looked contemplative as she sang and listened to the sermon. It was pretty cookie cutter "Jesus came and loves you" stuff. Not the real moved-by-the-spirit passionate stuff where people shouted "amen" and "it's true" throughout the sermon.

We walked back home, as for once it was just cold, not rainy and cold. It was sort of nice, Libra and I held Harry's hands, and he swung back and forth happily. I snuck a few glances at Libra, wondering what sort of a mom she would be. I mean, she was the closest thing to a mother figure in Harry's life at the moment, and she seemed to like him. Plus, we were probably in this for the long haul. It was awful lonely in the big world, full of magic and wizards, and the three of us seemed very small.

Still, Harry was happy enough to run up the stairs when we got home, hurrying to the tree and picking out a present.

"Wait," I told him, holding up my hand. "Not yet. You gotta remember why we open gifts first."

"Story time?" Harry asked.

"Story time," I agreed. "Go and get the book."

Harry ran off as Libra took off her scarf and jacket and sat down on the couch. I sat next to her, trying not to think of the fact that we were only about a foot apart. It was Christmas, which meant you had to be good and stuff.

Harry ran back and and hopped up on the couch between us, handing me my bible. I touched it's pages, stroking them softly. "You know, this was one of the things that came back with me," I said. "It's different of course. The print year is all wrong now. Kind of a miracle." I cleared my throat, fighting back tears. "Well, anyway. It's time for The Story."

I read all of Luke 1, which is the account of John the Baptist's birth and the Immaculate Conception. Harry listened patiently, holding his chosen present in his hands. We'd often read stories from the bible together at bedtime, though I occasionally edited the versions to be a little more kid friendly. Once I was finished, I closed the bible and rested it on my lap.

"Do you know why we give gifts at Christmas?" I asked.

"Because of the three Wise Men?" Harry asked.

"That's part of it," I agreed. "But the deeper part is that Jesus himself was a gift. He was God's gift to the entire world, the perfect gift that would save mankind from Satan, Sin and Death. In some ways, Harry, people are going to look to you the same way they looked to Jesus."

"Really?" Harry asked, his eyes huge, the present half forgotten.

"Really. They will think of you as a savior, as someone who has come to save them from evil. And in some ways I suppose that's true. You were sent by God to save Britain from itself. But never forget, in your darkest hour, turn to Jesus. Even when the strength of men and magic fail, God will still be with you my son."

Harry nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "I will."

"Alright, now you can open your present."

Harry turned into a miniature buzzsaw and shredded his wrapping paper. "The space command set!" Harry cheered, holding up the box of legos so everyone could see.

"You take good care of Benny now, ya here?" I ordered.

"Yes sir!" Harry promised, and immediately set about opening the box and getting all the little pieces out. Cool thing about time travel: you can give kids the same stuff you wanted when you were little. Plus, Benny was awesome.

"What about my present?" Libra asked, leaning over onto my arm.

"Yeah dad, give Ms. Libra a present too!" Harry ordered.

I chuckled and nodded. "Alright, alright. But first, you must choose: Wealth, or wisdom?"

"Hmmm," Libra said, rubbing her chin. "I suppose the correct answer is wisdom, but that seems boring. I'll take wealth."

"You got it." I leaned over to the tree and dug around, pulling out a small, thin box. It was wrapped pretty clumsily, as I am terrible at wrapping presents, and I felt slightly embarrassed handing it to Libra.

Libra ripped into the paper, though she was a bit neater than Harry had been. She caught sight of the long black cardboard box, and gasped slightly. Carefully, she lifted the lid, revealing a silver pendent on a bed of cotton. She slowly lifted it out, revealing a small icon of a woman, holding up a sword while the other grasped a set of scales. Two wings sprouted from her back, and she was dressed in flowing robes.

"Winged justice," I told her. "Well, what they think the original statue may have looked like before it was damaged."

"It's beautiful," Libra whispered, cradling the pendant in her hands and stroking it with one finger.

"Hey, then it's a good match for you," I said. "Plus, you know, the whole name thing. You're the scales, and what with the traditional association between the scales and justice, I figured-"

"David," Libra said, grabbing a hold of my sweater. "Shut up." She then pulled me into a kiss.

Now, I hate to admit it, but this sort of caused a BSOD. I had, in fact, never kissed a girl before. My mother doesn't count. So when Libra forced her mouth onto mine and stuck her tongue in, I sort of short circuited. I froze up, my eyes wide and my hands out to the side, twitching slightly.

When we separated, Libra was crying, and I was still doing a hard reboot.

"Ewww," Harry said, scrunching up his face and sticking out his tongue at us.

"I'm sorry," Libra said, pushing me away and standing. "I just thought, I'm terribly sorry. I should go. Merry-"

"Harrygotoyourroom," I ordered, trying to stand up and tripping over my own two feet. I crashed into Libra head first, knocking her over and into the wall in my narrow living room.

"Ow," I said, finding myself on top of Libra, who was looking at me wide eyed, still clutching the pendant. I looked over at Harry. "You gone deaf kid?"

"No," Harry said, looking at me and Libra with his head tilted to one side.

I shifted onto my knees, getting off of Libra and pulling her to a sitting position. "Oh good. It's late. Go to bed."

"But I-"

"Don't forget Santa is coming," I told him. "Sooner you get to bed, sooner he shows up."

"Ok," Harry agreed, gathering up his legos and hurrying off to his room. "I hate kissing parts anyway."

Once Harry was gone, my eye snapped back to Libra, who was breathing hard and hiccuping. "Right. So, um, yeah. I uh, I'm sorry I'm not a very good kisser."

"What?" Libra said, blinking and pulling some of her hair out of her eyes.

"See, I ain't never kissed no one before, and that was all unexpected like, and sort of had an internal runtime error and the OS crashed. But we did a hard reset and we're OK now."

Libra burst out laughing, leaning up against the wall and hugging her knees to her chest. Have I mentioned she had boobies? Because she did. I do like those. Her's were very nice. Trust me, I am an expert on the subject. "David, you are, without a doubt, the oddest man I have ever met."

"That's kind of an achievement considering you've met Dumbledore and grew up with wizards who don't understand how DNA or heredity works. I mean, have wizards even done mendel squares?"

"Oh God," Libra half laughed, half cried. "I don't...I can't even begin to understand all this."

"Hey, that makes two of us." I stood up and offered her my hand. She accepted it, still giggling, and I pulled her up. I pulled her close, so close that we were nose to nose and my eyes sort of crossed looking at her. "Hi," I managed.

"Hi," Libra said, tilting her head to one side. "I'm going to kiss you now. Alright?"

"Yeah," I said, my eyes snapping back into focus.

Kissing, as it turns out, is pretty cool. I could manage to do it once in awhile.

After a long while, we broke apart again, and Libra started laughing. While I am not an expert on kissing or love, I am pretty sure a woman laughing at you after you kiss her is not, in fact, the reaction one should aim to achieve.

"This is so odd," she said, hiccuping twice. "I just...I don't understand things at all."

"Yeah," said lamely, feeling like I'd just ruined my friendship with Libra and crushed any hopes of getting past first base. However, I am also not very good at baseball, so it is entirely possible that tongue is second base. There should be a diagram for this or something. I think XKCD made one, but that was less than helpful at the moment.

Libra held up the pendant to me. "Put it on, please?"

I fumbled with the latch as Libra lifted up her hair to expose her neck. Her hair was very nice. Sort of a light honey color, about shoulder length, kinda wavy. Also her neck was nice. Her skin was pale and smooth. Come to think of it, she was overall very nice, even if she was only about an inch shorter than I was. Which made kissing pretty easy which was a good perk if I got to do that again. I managed to get the pendant on, and Libra turned back around, pulling her hair into a quick ponytail and slipping on a bit of elastic she'd had somewhere.

"So," she said, looking up at me with a rather shy expression. Which was odd, because she'd been pretty forward a moment ago. "Where does that leave us?"

encountered another runtime error do to a sudden loss of blood in the cranial cavity, but thankfully this time we were able to boot from a backup copy and didn't lose too much. "Um," I said. "Why don't we sit down?"

Yes, good idea. That way, we can have more energy to use for thinking.

We walked over to the couch, and I hesitantly sat right next to Libra, putting my arm around her. We looked over at the tree at the foot of the couch, which was glowly nicely.

"That was a pretty good Christmas present," I said, desperately trying to think of something to say. Somehow "marry me and have my babies" did not seem appropriate.

Libra shifted, leaning into me and putting her head on my shoulder. "That was my first kiss too."

I started, looking down at her. "What? Really? But you're hot."

Libra laughed, then started crying. "Haven't you been listening to me?"

I wracked my memory desperately, which was, at the moment, overloaded with the whole "I am touching a girl and maybe she likes me" program. "Um, yes? Because, you ah, you didn't have any friends?"

"Yes, David," Libra said, looking up at me and giving me a quick peck on the cheek. "I have never had a boyfriend, nor even been on any dates. I've been asked, but I always found excuses. I was afraid anyone I got close too would be killed along with me when my family found out."

"Yeah but they'd kill me anyway," I said, trying to be helpful. "And you can't kill people twice. So you could date me."

"I have, you know, been dropping hints that I would be alright with you being intimate with me for some time now," Libra informed me. "When a lady asks to spend the night at your place, in your bed, Mr. Murphy, most men do not assume that means they should sleep on the couch."

"But then where would you sleep?" I asked. It hit me right after I said that. "Oh."

"Mhmm," Libra agreed. "I have gathered that you have never been, shall we say, intimate with another, but have you really never even kissed a girl before?"

"Well, I mean, I kissed my prom date on the cheek once," I said defensively. "But we only went on like two more dates and then she broke up with me saying we should just be friends. And I dated another girl for like a year, but we were doing the whole 'dating Jesus first' thing and were waiting to kiss until a wedding that never happened. And she broke up with me because of personal issues which I am pretty sure is code for 'David is an asshole.' Also, I'm fat and ugly."

Libra poked at my stomach, which made me gasp. "You could perhaps stand to lose a few pounds, but then again I never liked men that looked like they were half starved. And you are a very good cook. As for ugly, frankly I would have to disagree with whoever told you that."

"The mirror," I said.

Libra shook her head and giggled. "As I said, you are very odd."

"But you...like me?" I ventured. "I mean, I like you. I like you alot. You're pretty, and smart, and Harry likes you, and I can actually talk to you about stuff."

"I think I could learn to like you," Libra said in a teasing tone. Then her expression became serious. "But I'm guessing you'll still want to sleep on the couch tonight. Do you really believe God cares that much about you?"

I sighed heavily and scooted away from Libra. "And there's the hard part. Yes. I believe God is very real. I believe that marriage is a sacrament, and that only within the bounds of those holy bonds should such a union be fully consummated. I have gathered that you do not in fact share those beliefs."

"Most wizards don't," Libra agreed, sitting up and looking away from me. "Personally, I always thought if there was a god, that he hated me and wanted me to suffer, because he hadn't given me magic. Plus, what made god so special? Wizards could do anything he did."

I nodded slowly. "I can understand the position. But frankly, I would see the very existence of magic as a very strong argument that God DOES exist."

"Weren't you the one who told me you got lectures on Suffer not the Witch to Live?" Libra demanded. "It seems like if God exists, he is rather against magic."

"Ah, I'm glad you asked," I said in the tone of theology nerds everywhere. "You see, if you go back to the original Hebrew or Greek, a more nuanced version emerges. From that, it could be more accurately translated as one who uses sorcery to harm others, or one who comports with demons, or even if you stretch it a bit, apothecaries. In this, it is easy to see that the passage would not ban benign magic, or magic used to glorify God. This makes sense, as what are miracles but a kind of magic? So, if a wizard or witch were to use magic to help their fellow man, it would be no different than someone praying for another and commanding in the spirit for healing to occur or possessing the Gift of Tongues. Thus, the passage does not in fact show that God hates magic, only the misuse of magic or to associate with demons."

"I...hmmm. I'll have to look that up myself," Libra said slowly. "I confess, aside from you, I've never known anyone who really took God seriously."

"That is an excellent example of being a Berean, and I applaud you for it," I said happily. "After all, the scriptures exhort us to not simply take the words of our elders or friends on the topic of salvation, but to search them ourselves and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling."

I picked up my bible and handed it to Libra. "Here, it's dangerous to go alone. Take this."

Libra, sadly, did not seem to get my brilliant reference. However, she took the book and examined it. "I've never read the bible before," she admitted. But then she looked at me. "But David, even if I do read this...what about us? Would you totally spurn a relationship with me just because I don't believe the same things you do?"

Now, I will admit, the verse about being unequally yoked flashed through my head, but I also felt Libra's touch. And I couldn't turn away from her. "No," I admitted. "I mean, I do really like you. And frankly, you're the first person to express even a passing interest in me in ages. Plus...well, we already share so much. And I really do want to be with you. So...no. But sleeping together is off the table."

"For now?" Libra prompted.

"For now," I conceded. "I do have a somewhat vested interest in sleeping with you at some point."

Libra giggled, shaking her head. "You certainly haven't been acting like it."

"Well, frankly, I didn't want to sour our relationship by making an unwelcome pass at you because I rely on you so much," I admitted.

"Don't you think that's what romantic relationships are built on? Mutual reliance on one another?"

"I think they're built on a lot of things. The first of which is love," I stated. "Not not some sappy feeling you get when you look at someone because you find them attractive or they make you feel good." Libra looked slightly offended at that, and I hastened to add, "Not that I do not find you extremely attractive or that you don't make me feel really good. But what about when we're 70? At that point, nobody looks good."

"Alright," Libra conceded. "But then what do you think love is?"

"Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not boast, nor does it envy. Love does not seek to injure others nor to glorify itself. Love keeps no record of wrong, and is not quick to wrath. Love hates evil, but loves the truth. Love always trusts, always hopes, always protects, always continues strong.

"Love never fails. While prophecies may cease, the words of men fail, and the wisdom of kings fade to dust, love endures. For at the end of all things there will be three things: Faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love."

"That's….beautiful," Libra said.

I tapped the bible. "It's in here. 1 Corinthians 13. Always liked that passage."

Libra studied the bible, opening it and flipping through a few pages. "Hmm. Perhaps this won't be as dry and dusty as I always thought it would be."

"Ha! Read the Song of Solomon some time. It's practically a bodice buster. I'd recommend you start with the center, though. Read Mark first. Possibly the Psalms too if you like poetry. But the important part is the Christ, and Mark is the first and in my opinion best word on that. Though my inner nerd is also fond of Luke."

"That was what you were reading earlier, right?" Libra asked.

"Yeah. Luke 1. That's the book people read for the Christmas Story, that and Matthew. Interestingly enough, despite the hype, the Birth of Christ is pretty far down in the significance list. I mean, this is all nice, and Jesus' birth was hands down the most important birth ever, but only two of the Gospels cover it in any detail. Mark skips it completely, and John gives the spiritual birth of the Christ instead of the physical."

Libra nodded slowly. "But what if it isn't real?"

"Well, that would be pretty hard to prove, I mean-" I began, but Libra cut me off.

"No, I mean, what if we ask Dumbledore about this, and he can show us concrete evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was a fabrication of wizards, or simply a very bored one who enjoyed toying with muggles."

I opened and closed my mouth several times. "I...I don't know," I admitted. "I've always had faith. Without that...I'm nothing."

"But you have me now," Libra said, putting my hand on her chest. Which was, by the by, the first time I ever got to touch boobies. It was everything I had ever dreamed it would be.

Which was why it was so hard to pull my hand away. "Libra, I don't know what I would do if I was given solid evidence that Jesus was a hoax or that the resurrection was a frame up job. But understand this: Jesus will come first for me. That's not a slight on you. But I owe him everything. He's literally my Lord, with all that implies. I love him with all my heart. However, because I love him, I can more perfectly love you."

"That doesn't make any sense," Libra snapped, turning away from me. "It sounds like just a cheap cop out."

I started to speak, but then hesitated. Instead, I did something I do not normally do. I kept my mouth shut, and listened and waited. To this day, I'm convinced that it was only at the prompting of the Holy Spirit that I managed that, because I'm pretty sure whatever I would have said would only have put distance between the two of us.

"But then again," Libra said long after the silence had gotten awkward. "You don't make much sense." She turned back to me and smiled. Her smile was so beautiful. Why had I ever thought her teeth were a bit yellow and crooked? They were perfect. "I suppose I'll just have to accept that you've got it in for this Jesus bloke, just like you'll have to accept I don't."

I nodded and opened my arms wide. "Still willing to give me a shot?"

Libra accepted the embrace, and we shared another kiss. It spoke a lot more than words ever could have.


	8. Chapter 8

There is something to be said for not having children. Like getting to sleep in on Christmas morning.

However, there is also something to be said for getting up early. When you get to see the joy on their faces, well, let's just say I understood why Jesus had been willing to go through so much so that he could adopt us.

Harry woke up at the crack of too early o'clock. He found Libra and I both asleep on the couch, curled up with one another. This did not, however, seem to deter him.

"Wake up!" he shouted, jumping up and down next to the couch. "It's Christmas!"

I stifled and groan and opened my eyes, looking up at Harry's huge grin. "Merry Christmas, Harry," I said, stretching and forcing myself to stand. Sleeping on a couch next to someone fully upright does not make for good rest, or muscles that don't scream in protest. It had, however, been totally worth it. "Merry Christmas," I said to Libra, kissing the top of her forehead as she blinked herself awake.

She yawned hugely, then hugged Harry. "Merry Christmas, love." Then she stood and hugged me. "And you too. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to all!" I proclaimed. Then I winked at Harry. "Ready to open presents?"

"Not yet," he informed me impatiently, holding up his children's bible. "You have to finish the story first!"

I chuckled and opened it to Luke 2, sitting back down on the couch. Harry hopped onto my lap, practically vibrating with excitement.

"And in those days, Caesar Augustus, ruler of the entire Roman world, ordered a census; a counting of his entire empire. This was the first to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria…"

Harry listened, though his eyes were on the presents the entire time. I didn't blame him; he was five. Libra, however, looked thoughtful as I recited the story. Perhaps she was taking this seriously? Time would tell. Last night had rocked me to my core though: what if I could be handed concrete evidence that Jesus was a fraud? What would that do to me? I forced the thought aside, and took Libra's hand in my own. At least I wasn't in this by myself.

Once the story was done, Harry leapt at the presents. Surprisingly, he didn't start tearing into them. Instead, he pulled out two boxes: one marked "Dade" and the other marked "Mz Leba." I was very proud. That sort of phonetic spelling is a good mark of a kindergarteners grasp of the english language, and Harry was clearly able to distinguish phonemes. He didn't have R blends yet, but we hadn't covered those at all. He even had proper capitalization, which frankly doesn't usually emerge until the latter half of first grade. He'd written the tabs himself, and even wrapped the presents.

I opened mine, which was wrapped in newspaper. Inside was a snake made of clay, painted green with blobs of purple paint on it. At the end were stuck several beads.

"I made you a rattler," Harry said proudly. "Since I can talk to snakes, I figured I'd get one for you so you could be protected."

I fought back tears. So this was why my parents had kept so much useless crap I'd made as a kid. "I love it," I told Harry in a choked voice. "I'll call him Randy."

Libra's present contained a picture that Harry had clearly done himself in water colors. It depicted a small figure with glasses between two larger figures, one with a beard and the other with long hair and a dress. I was very impressed: Harry had clearly been paying attention when we sang the Matt Man song, as each figure had all limbs along with feet and five fingers on their hands. The two bigger figures had long ropey arms, which they were using to dangle the smaller one between them. The little one was labeled "HARRY" (you teach kindergarteners to write in all caps first and the habit tends to stick for a bit) while the others were labeled as "supr Dad" and "supr Mom." Yes! I had successfully taught Harry the correct spelling.

"Who's this?" Libra asked, pointing to the picture.

Harry grinned. "That's me," he said, pointing at the little figure. "That's daddy," he pointed to the big bearded guy. "I don't know who that is yet," Harry admitted, pointing to the third figure. "But I hope it's you. I like you a lot."

God Bless the innocence of children. "Harry, you may want to look away," I informed him.

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"Because there is gonna be some smoochin' and you said you don't like that," I told him.

Harry let out a very theatrical sigh, and turned around. I leaned in and kissed Libra. We played a bit of tongue hockey, which was a lot less gross and a lot more fun than I had imagined it to be.

"I think the vacancy may soon be filled," I told Libra when we stopped to catch our breath. "Your audition is going very well. You're a hit with the audience."

She laughed and pushed me away. "You can look now, Harry. Why don't we all open some presents."

Harry happily tackled the boxes. He found the sweets he had been hoping for, mostly from neighbors and classmates. Libra had gotten him his very own bike, which we'd had to haul in from her car after our makeout session last night. She also got him a "football" which she insisted he could only keep if he called it the right thing. Which was obviously soccer, but I wasn't going to argue with her today about much.

Next came my presents. The first one was, I admit, not entirely a present for Harry.

"Oh my gosh!" Harry shrieked, hoisting aloft the box. "Dad, dad you got me a nintendo!"

"Darn tootin'," I informed him. "Once Megaman comes out, your old man is going to show you some pretty sweet tricks. And we are so getting Duck Hunt." For now he'd have to content himself with Balloon Fight and Excitebike.

"But we don't have a TV," Harry said, looking around.

"Huh. Well, I wonder what's in that box behind the tree then," I said, pointing to a large box sticking out.

Harry wooped and dragged it into the open, where he quickly revealed what I considered to be an ancient relic, but was fairly new for the times.

"You're limited to a half hour of screen time on school days," I informed him. "Hour and a half on the weekend."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Harry cheered, hugging me as he jumped up and down. "This is the best Christmas ever!"

"Well, it's not over yet," I said, standing up. "I'll be right back."

I walked into my room, taking the cover off of final present that I had stuck in the corner near an outlet. It's occupant stirred slightly, looking up from the warming rock.

"Hold on," I told it. "You're about to make a friend."

I carried the terrarium into the living room, and Harry shrieked and started bouncing about like he was made out of rubber. "Dad you didn't!"

"I did," I informed him. I set the terrarium down on the floor amidst the wreckage of many brave presents. "I couldn't wrap this little guy; he needed his rock to be plugged in. Go ahead, reach in and pick him up. I'm pretty stoked I was able to find one."

Harry reached in and pulled out a gorgeous milk snake. It was a baby, only about a year old. It had been imported to a pet store in london, where I had purchased it along with the terrarium and supplies. The scales were lustrous red, black and white, and the tongue flicked out as she sniffed the air of this strange new place.

"Hssshassshhh," Harry said in an odd, guttural tone.

The snakes head snapped around, and it in return hissed a bit. "She says I'm a speaker," Harry said in an awestruck tone.

Despite the fact that I had known it was coming, I felt rather uncomfortable. I glanced at Libra, who put her arm around my waist and squeezed tightly. "Well, he's not a squib," she murmured. I don't know what that cost her, but I was supremely grateful for it.

Harry hissed back and forth with the snake for a bit. "She says she doesn't have a name," he told me. "She just thinks she's called snake."

"Well, ask her if she wants one," I told him.

Harry hissed at the snake a bit, then nodded. "I'll name her Buttercup."

"But she's not the fairest maiden in the land!" I said in protest.

Harry looked up at me, frowning. "Well then who is?"

"Eyyyy," I said, pointing at Libra with both fingers. She snorted and smacked my hands. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Well she's the prettiest snake," Harry declared. The snake wound its way up Harry's arm to halfway encircle his neck. He giggled, watching her out of the corner of his eyes.

"Now, it's very important that you don't talk to her around other people," I told Harry sternly. "She's strictly an indoor pet. Oh, and ask her not to escape her cage, please. Milk snakes are notorious cage breakers."

"She won't," Harry promised, stroking the snakes back. "We'll be best friends."

"You are so lucky I'm not one of those girls who is terrified of snakes," Libra informed me.

I shrugged. "Hey, just as long as we don't take this so far as to put Harry in Slytherin. Those guys are basically either minions or wannabe sith."

"What's a Slytherin?" Harry asked.

I shrugged. "We'll cover that later. For now, Libra, you get your other present." I reached under the tree and pulled out a large box, which I shook so that it made noise. I grinned evilly. "Good luck."

The box was, in fact, glued together. Libra gave up after a bit of struggling and went to the kitchen for a knife. She carefully slit the box open, revealing another box. She gave me a baleful look. "You are so lucky I didn't open this one last night."

"God works in mysterious ways," I said piously, trying to hide my pitchfork and tail.

Libra finally got down to the final container, which was a small envelope. She carefully opened it, revealing a small notebook. She opened it and flipped through a few pages.

"Google? coin? Tarmogoyf? David, what is this?"

"Wisdom," I informed her. "This is a list of all the stocks I remember doing phenomenally well in the next 30 years. Everything from Walmart to Blockbuster. Some of them also have dates to get the hell out, or events. Like, you should stop investing in Apple sometime around 2010. Steve Jobs dies not long after that and they take a bit of a dive. Same goes for Walmart. Oh, and it has a list of all the money cards in Magic the Gathering, and what a good price point to buy and sell is. There are also a few sporting events, like the 2001 World Series and the 2009 Super Bowl. I also wrote down every president for the US, in case you can bet on who wins those."

Libra started, then slowly paged through the book, examining it. "This...this is really all true?"

"Yep," I informed her. "Includes the Great Recession in 2007. Year I graduated from high school. With this, you can easily become phenomenally wealthy. Even if something happens to me."

"I...David, I don't know what to say," Libra said, her voice trembling. "This..this is a lot of responsibility." She paged forward through the notebook, pausing. "There are a bunch of stories at the end."

"Yeah." I nodded. "That's all about some of the great tragedies of the next few decades: 9/11, the 2004 tsunami, Port Arthur Massacre, though I can't remember exact dates, and of course everything I remember about what happens to Harry."

"Really?" Harry asked, standing on tiptoe to peek at the book.

"Sorry kiddo, beyond your lexile level. We'll get you a copy someday."

Libra took in a deep breath, looking down at the book, then up at me. "You really do trust me, don't you?"

"With my life, and heart," I said, putting my hand over hers. "Keep it secret. Keep it safe."

There was, however, one thing I had kept out of the book. I hadn't put in that Harry was a Horcrux. If I had my way, no one would ever figure that out until I found a solution for that problem. Nothing and nobody was killing my little boy.

Libra gave me some new cooking stuff and some recipe books on British cooking. I smiled and nodded. "Alright, alright, I'll let you naturalize me. A bit. Ohhhhhhhh weeeee fired our guns but the British kept a comin' there wasn't quite as many as there was a while ago-"

I marched into the kitchen singing the Battle of New Orleans, Libra laughing hysterically and Harry singing along as best he could. It was time for another Murphy family tradition: Monkey Bread. I'd found some tinned dough that would work for it, (you were supposed to use pillsbury biscuit dough), and we dipped it in sugar and cinnamon. Then, we poured the extra cinnamon sugar into a saucepan of melted butter while putting the sticky dough into a bundt pan. Finally, we poured boiling butter sauce over the whole thing and popped it in the oven.

Sadly, the one problem with Monkey Bread, aside from it having about as many calories as you need in a year, is that it takes a while to cook. So, I spent the wait in the time honored tradition of dads everywhere and assembled the TV and hooked up the NES. Thankfully, despite me being less than technically minded, it was pretty easy as it was all "put red cable in red port." I fired it up, and soon Harry and I were playing Balloon Fight, whooping and hollering. After a bit, I handed the controller over to Libra, who seemed to enjoy it almost as much as Harry did.

Finally, the Monkey Bread was done, and we all gorged ourselves. Not even Libra complained that I had Americanized the dish somehow. We washed it all down with hot cider, then Harry ran back to his toys, hissing to Buttercup the entire time.

"He loves that snake," Libra said as we watched Harry race his bike up and down the block later. "They're going to be inseparable."

"Yeah, but better he get a grip on what he can do now than later," I said, shaking my head. "He's got some hard fights ahead of him, and I can't foresight his way around all of them. Best to make him think it's all fun and games while we can still protect him."

"Yes," Libra agreed, twining her arms around me as a dopey grin formed on her face. "But at least we can do it together."

I'm pretty sure my grin would have given Goofy a run for his money. "Yeah," I agreed. "That sounds good."

Dinner that night was perfect. I made a honey glazed ham, served with mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, gravy, green beans, and apple and pecan pie for dessert. Libra admitted that pea-khan pie was actually pretty good, and we all gained about 10lbs.

Not long after, Harry began to yawn so much that not even his legos could distract him, and we put him and Buttercup to bed. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow, Buttercup coiled up in her terrarium next to his bed. Libra and I stood together, holding each other as we watched him sleep.

"Hard to believe he's going to be a great wizard someday," Libra whispered. "He seems so innocent now."

"Just as long as he's a live one," I answered. "I just hope Dumbledore managed to get the basilisk."

"Yes," Libra agreed. "Come, I have one last Christmas present for you."

I felt my heart start racing, and I flushed. "Libra...I don't-" have the moral fortitude to resist a serious seduction attempt, but I didn't say that.

"Come on," she said, taking my head. "It's in my car."

We walked outside, and LIbra reached into her car, pulling out a large box.

"Help me with this," she said. "It's very heavy."

She wasn't kidding, that thing had to weigh about 200 pounds. We hauled it back up to my apartment together up the long stairs. We were both panting by the time we hauled it in the door. "What is this thing?" I asked, examining the box.

"A gun safe," she told me. She took a knife from the kitchen, and cut the box open, revealing a safe that was big enough for a couple of rifles.

"Er, Libra, I know I'm an American and everything, but honestly I'm not exactly a gun totin' cowboy. I mean, I've shot before, but that was years ago. I'm not exactly an expert marksman."

"Neither am I," Libra agreed. "I've avoided guns for a long time, probably at least in part because in the back of my mind they were filthy muggle things. Come on, the guns are still in my boot."

I followed her back down, considering what this meant. Theoretically, I could use a gun to fight off any wizard invaders. To be fair, I had no idea how effective guns were against wizards. They probably worked great if you go the drop on your target, but once the wizard started throwing magic around probably a lot less so.

In Libra's trunk were two cases of ammo, along with a breech loading single shot shotgun and a bolt action .22 rifle. I carefully retrieved both guns, ensuring the safeties were on, which was pretty much the only thing I remembered about using them. Then we carried them back up stairs.

"Are they loaded?" I asked as we put the guns and ammo in the safe.

"No," Libra admitted. "I don't know the first thing about guns. But I did manage to purchase these easily enough."

"How?"I asked. "Don't you have to get a background check or something?"

"No, I purchased them in a private transaction from a man who is a foster parent in one of my cases. We filled out the paperwork, but it was rather simple."

"Yeah, but I'm a resident alien. It can't be legal for me to have two guns in my apartment," I said, shutting the safe. Libra locked it with a key, handing me one of the pair.

"That is a bit of a problem," Libra admitted. "However, I do have a work around. I move in with you."

I started to protest, but Libra held up a hand. "Hear me out. David, how many nights do you lie awake, afraid to go asleep because you're worried that someone will come and and try and take or kill Harry?"

"More than one," I admitted. I hadn't been sleeping well since I'd come back in fact. "And, well, I guess the only times I've slept well were when you were over. Just knowing someone else is there...it helps."

"That's my entire life," Libra told me. "Every night, I'm alone in my flat. As soon as I could, I moved out on my own because I lived in constant fear that my flatmate would come home imperiused or someone would polyjuice themselves and murder me in my sleep. And David, I don't want to be alone anymore."

I put my arms around Libra, thinking she would start crying. Instead, it was me. I started bawling. "I'm just so scared," I whispered, clinging to her tightly. "I don't think I'm strong enough for this. I've cried out to God, but for perhaps the first time in my life, I don't know if he's even there. The only people in the whole world that I have are you and Harry, and somehow I have to protect both of you."

"You don't have to do it alone, silly. That's what I've been telling you," Libra said, rubbing my back. "Stop thinking with your balls for a moment, and think with your head."

I nodded, trying to pull myself back together. "Yeah. Yeah OK. I'll have to break my lease though."

"We'll figure it out," Libra promised. "It doesn't have to be tomorrow."

Maybe not. But that tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

 _Authors Note:_

 _Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! New updates will be a bit slower after this, I just really wanted to be able to post the Christmas chapter on Christmas._


	9. Chapter 9

I had always hated those couples that were all over each other, holding hands and kissing and always thinking and talking about each other and trying to spend every moment in one another's company. It was, to my dawning horror, that I realized I had become one half of one of those couples practically overnight. Libra and I held hands when we walked Harry to the park, we sat together on the couch, we kissed and hugged all the time. She started practically living at my place, the final verdict of that was when a hairbrush and toothbrush showed up in the bathroom.

Still, despite the euphoria, two niggling thoughts lingered at the back of my mind. The first and scariest was that it was entirely possible I was living in a world where God wasn't real. I tried to pray and read the scriptures, but I couldn't seem to manage it and kept putting it off. Interestingly though, Libra seemed to have plenty of time to read the bible and ask questions.

"You know, I'm actually surprised to learn that some of what Jesus supposedly did couldn't have been done simply with magic," she told me.

"What, like raising the dead?" I asked

She shook her head. "No, you can make a corpse walk or put someone in a death like coma with dreamless sleep potion. But taking someone else's food and multiplying it? That's impossible. You can't do that. The food would be tasteless and worthless, no one would want to eat it. It would be like eating sawdust. I suppose you could use some sort of container and pull the food out of that that you put in earlier, but that would be very hard I believe. The weather control is also frankly impossible. No one can command the rain and wind like that; it's magic on too grand a scale. To stop a storm, you would need a very complex ritual. Not even Merlin could simply shout down the wind."

"Huh," I said. "I'd thought you'd be more skeptical."

"Oh I am," Libra declared. "I'm not sure I really believe that any of it happened. But what it does talk about is certainly impossible by any magic I know about. Admittedly, that is somewhat limited. Perhaps someone who actually had experience with it would know better."

We had a few conversations like that, Libra occasionally remarking that she liked what Jesus had to say, but wasn't sure that made him anything more than a smart teacher.

"Well, there is always the Lewisian Trilemma," I told her. "That is the argument that no one who claims to be the literal Son of God and that you should give up everything to follow him must be one of three things: Mad, bad, or God."

"I think that argument is somewhat limiting," Libra declared.

I shrugged, and picked up a copy of Mere Christianity off my shelf. I felt a pang holding it, as if I should be the one reading it and strengthening my own faith, but I quickly handed it over. "Here. Lewis was one of the best theologians of the 20th century. This is a transcript of his radio talks during the Blitz. He also wrote the Chronicles of Narnia, if you like reading fantasy."

"I have quite enough fantasy in my own life, thank you very much," Libra informed me. But she took the book, and I found her reading it in my room a short time later.

The second and more imminent source of worry was that we had not heard back from Dumbledore. It had now been two weeks since we had talked about the basilisk. It was almost New Years, and with that term would resume. I feared the worst, and wondered what would happen if the Serpent of Slytherin had overcome the Headmaster. We may have lost the man who had the potential to be our best and most potent ally.

Finally, on January 2nd, the last Saturday before term resumed, a letter arrived. It was written in emerald green ink, and postmarked from "Hershings School of Workmen and Watches." Dumbledore had a sense of humor I guess.

"Libra, Harry," I called. "Letter."

We all crowded around the kitchen table. I had to work to keep my hand steady as I opened the letter. Inside was a piece of parchment.

"Dear Mr. Murphy," I read. "I am pleased to inform you that we will not require your son's services. The incident has been dealt with, and the offending animal removed. I cannot begin to express my gratitude for your assistance in the matter. I regret that I cannot deliver this letter in person, but the circumstances surrounding this event have been very troublesome, and have required a great deal of my attention. I will attempt to contact you soon. In the meantime, you may contact me through the post. Address letters to 12 Grimmauld Place, Islington, London, care of Sirius Black.

"If all else fails, I would like to speak to you extensively over the Easter Holidays. We have a great deal to discuss, not the least of which is what future advice you can lend me. If anything pressing comes up, please write me immediately."

"Signed, Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster."

I set the letter down, breathing out a heavy sigh. "Well, I guess that's good news."

"He did kill the monster," Harry said happily. "I knew Mr. Dumbledore would be OK."

"Yes," Libra agreed. She tapped her finger on her lip thoughtfully. "You should warn him of the ring, David."

"That's a good idea," I agreed. "I'd hate to wind up with a dead Dumbledore too early. He was key in making sure Voldemort didn't just waltz in and murder everyone as soon as he had a body."

I grabbed some paper and a pen, and together Libra and I wrote a quick note.

"Beware the Ring and the Stone. They are cursed. Should you take the Ring or attempt to use the Stone, it will lead to your death in a short time."

We did not include my suggestion that he just have Snape get them.

We walked to the post office and mailed the letter, Harry keeping pace on his bike. He had complained when he'd had to leave Buttercup behind, but a simple warning had been enough to redirect him.

"Going to be a problem when school starts," I sighed. "Can't have him sneaking his pet into the classroom."

"Yes," Libra agreed. She bit her lip, looking around. "There is one other thing we need to talk about."

"Oh? What's that?"

"I can't be your case worker anymore," Libra told me.

I blinked, then laughed. "Is that it? I had wondered if that was going to be a problem."

"Well, not really," Libra assured me. "I have been covering for you quite a bit in the paperwork, but the other workers at the office have noticed I'm spending an inordinate amount of time with you. I had to head off the rumors we were involved and ask to recuse myself because I had grown attached to you and Harry."

"Will that be a problem? I mean, for us keeping Harry."

"Not at all," Libra assured me. "My manager is very happy for me. She'd always been remarking about attractive single fathers she met, and trying to set me up on dates. She's a bit disappointed I found someone without her help, but she has assured me that this is a special case as Harry is clearly very fond of you."

I nodded, pulling my jacket up against the cold wind. "Any word on the Dursleys, by the by?"

"They've moved to Reading," Libra told me. "They're still working on getting Dudley back, he's in a home in Brecknell. He's down a full stone already. Frankly, he was just as abused as Harry, though in the opposite direction. Fed like a fattened pig with no discipline whatsoever. They'll have to pass a parenting class to get Dudley back. They have made no move to get Harry back, which is fortunate."

I nodded absently. "Good. I hope they do get Dudley back, and that they can lead better lives."

J

"Why? Don't you hate them?"

I stopped, looking Libra in the eye. "Why would I do that? I hated their actions, sure, but I never hated them. We're all bad people. It's only by the Grace of God that any of us do different."

This seemed to really shock Libra. "But you're a Christian. You're supposed to think all people are good."

I laughed. "Tell that to Saint Augustine. No, we are all born into the sin of Adam. Our flesh, our world, is cursed. That's why we need redemption. That's why only the perfect man, living the perfect life, could make the perfect sacrifice. The rest of us were all tainted."

Libra pulled her arm out of mine, glaring at me. "Do you think I'm tainted?" she spat.

I realized my error. I'd been talking out of my knowledge and pride, not out of love and grace. "I'm sorry," I said, taking my hands out of my pocket and raising them in supplication. "It's not...look, this isn't about blood. It's about being human. I spoke without considering your history. I don't think you're perfect, Libra, but I do think you're about as close to it as you can get. You don't think I'm perfect, do you?"

"No," Libra said, turning away from me and shoving her hands in her pockets. "Obviously not."

We walked the rest of the way back to my apartment in silence, save for Harry's chatter. He was mind numbing levels of oblivious to other people's moods and feelings most of the time. He probably took after me in that.

While Harry put his bike away, I put my hand on Libra's shoulder. "Hey. Will you forgive me? I know what I said was hurtful, and wrong. I'll be more mindful of what I say in the future."

Libra frowned at me, then smiled and shook her head. "I think we just had our first lovers spat," she said. She took my face in her hands and kissed me. "Too bad we can't make up properly."

My face went red, and I was saved from making a fool of myself by Harry.

"Eww, come on, it's cold," Harry whined.

"I thought you wanted a mother," I said, putting my arm around Libra's shoulders.

"Yes," Harry admitted. "But does there have to be so much kissing? Uncle Vernon never kissed Aunt Petunia like that."

"And they were both miserable people who hated themselves," I told him. "You really want us to be like the Dursleys?"

Harry cocked his head to the side, thinking about this. "Ok, I guess you can kiss. But not too much."

"Just as long as he doesn't find out what I really have planned to do to you," Libra whispered in my ear and nibbling it a bit.

I yelped, but didn't pull away. Christ, grant me strength.

The day after term started, I got a call from my new case worker, a middle aged woman by the name of Louise Angler. She was all smiles when she came over to inspect the apartment, and giggled like a schoolgirl when she saw Libra had moved some of her things in.

"Well, things seem to be coming along quite nicely," she said after I'd filled out a bit of paperwork. "I see you have a dentist appointment coming up in the next few weeks?"

"Yeah, we already had a doctor's visit back in October. He was a bit malnourished and underweight, but not to a concerning level actually. It seems most of the abuse was psychological, emotional, and neglect. This is just a cleaning and check for cavities."

"Have there been any issues with him being a student in your classroom?" Louise asked.

"No, I think that was in Libra's report," I said. "He'll be in the year 2 class next year, but we all felt that he should stay in my class to foster those peer relationships. It's been very difficult not to give him special attention, but the Headmistress of the school has checked up on us from time to time and she believes things are going well."

"Excellent," Louise declared. "Well, everything does seem to be in order. But on a personal note, Mr. Murphy, I must say we at the office are all very glad that Libra has finally found someone. She always did her work well, but she never really seemed happy. We wish you both the best."

"Thanks," I said. "But we're taking it slow for now. We've both got a lot of things to figure out before we get hitched."

"Oh, thinking of marriage already, are you?" Louise said, giggling once more.

"Well, yeah. I mean, what's the point of dating someone if that's not the endgame?" I asked in a mystified tone.

"Well, I'm sure you're not like all those other American men, then. Such dreadful louts, tarnishing a woman's reputation without any intention of doing right by her."

"Death before dishonor," I said. "For a man when a man has nothing he must still have his reputation."

"Ooo, that is good. See that you have more than simply nice words, Mr. Murphy, and I think we will get along very well. I must say when I first heard an American bachelor was fostering an English boy I found it a bit suspect, but you're not like what I had imagined at all."

Gee, thanks. I think you just insulted me at least four times. I forced a smile. "Glad to live beyond your expectations."

"How was Louise?" Libra asked at dinner. "She can be a bit much sometimes."

"I can work with her," I said. "Though she needs to deal with her lingering resentment of my fellow countrymen."

Libra laughed. "Not much of a chance of that. Her father was an American servicemen who made all sorts of promises to her mother, then shacked up with a French floozy and ended up marrying a German before divorcing her and moving back across the pond."

"Wow. Talk about an uphill battle," I grumbled.

"She seems to like you more than average," Libra told me. "I've been buttering her up with gossip for weeks."

"She smells like Ms. Figg," Harry complained. "I bet she has lots of cats."

"Now Harry, just because cats are evil doesn't mean that cat people are evil too," I informed him.

Libra gasped, putting a hand on her chest. "But David, I am a cat person."

once again encountered a fatal runtime error, and I only managed to say some gibberish until Libra laughed at me. "I'm teasing. Personally, I was never fond of cats after I left my parents' house. They remind me too much of the world I left behind."

"Fair enough," I agreed, feeling relieved. "I'm more of a bird and reptile person myself."

"Buttercup says she likes birds," Harry said brightly. "Especially the eggs."

"That is not what I was talking about," I said, shaking my head. "I'll have you know my first pet was a cockatiel named Kind. He was my best little buddy for 10 years."

"What happened after that?" Harry asked.

I groaned mentally, but forced myself to bear up. "He died, and went home to be with Jesus."

It was only after I said that that I realized I didn't quite believe it anymore. I excused myself from the table and locked myself in the bathroom. The copy of Mere Christianity was sitting dog eared in the reading basket, probably left there by Libra. I opened it and flipped through it. It helped, but it didn't quite renew my soul the way I wanted.

"God, I don't even know what to believe anymore," I whispered. "I'm walking through the valley of the shadow of death and I do not feel like the baddest mother in here, nor do I feel your rod or staff. Help. Please."

After what I determined to be the maximum amount of polite time, I flushed the empty toilet and walked back to the table, but I brought my doubts with me.

Like most men who experienced stress, I threw myself into my work. There was a lot to do, so this didn't take much of an excuse. Kindergarten back in my time had become increasingly academic, almost to the point where it far more closely resembled the schooling of much older children in the 80s. I brought with me the techniques and practices of that later time. A focus on core academic instruction using data driven interventions and research based practices, such as the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum (which I was able to copy largely from memory thanks to teaching it for 4 years). This meant that my class was actually gaining a small amount of notoriety. Parents were remarking at how their students were doing extremely well, even previously struggling students like the much talked about Olivia Davers.

Oliva was, to be blunt, an extremely rare case of high functioning female autism. Under the Diagnostic and Standards Manual IV she would have been classified as Asperger's, though I recognized it as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) under the DSM V. Keep in mind, the current edition was the DSM III. This was exacerbated by the fact that despite attending a school in a fairly well to do area, her family was barely getting by. Her father had suffered a work related injury, and had tried to self medicate with alcohol. Olivia's mother was another individual with high functioning ASD, and lacked the social connections or wherewithal to do much about her present situation. Her husband had married her after getting her with child out of a sense of guilt, and their relationship was strained.

That was the background that this young girl walked into my classroom with. Olivia had very little in the way of social filters, and often responded to setbacks with physical aggression at home and at school. She was verbal, and very intelligent, which hid her complete inability to function in an environment that contained too much sensory input. The fluorescent lighting, the noise of the other children, the task demands, and the social interactions were too much. She had multiple meltdowns in the first month, biting me twice and nearly getting the instructional aide.

This was, however, not my first rodeo. Catherine asked me if I wanted her suspended, or even expelled and sent to a school for troubled children. I told her to give me until the end of the school year, and if I hadn't been able to come up with a functional education plan for Olivia, that I would be willing to pursue such an option.

The first thing was making Olivia feel safe, loved, and welcomed. This was no simple task. I created several behavior supports for her, such as an individual picture schedule, break time cards, a token economy, and a sensory corner. I also found some thick earmuffs to block noise, and a pair of red tinted sunglasses to block out high frequency lighting. This was a scattergun approach to behavioral interventions, in large part because I was also consumed with Harry's issues and Libra's issues, and doing a good job of pretending I didn't have any. I confess, even with the interventions I had not given Olivia enough attention, as I had my energy focused in other areas.

Well, no more. I knuckled down, and got to work. I met with Olivia's parents, coming up with a home-school fidelity contract to help manage her behaviors. I quietly slipped her father literature from the local parish church I attended about overcoming addiction, and told him if he ever needed someone to vent to, my door was open. He glared at me at first, but soon he was picking Olivia up every day instead of her mother, and venting to me for about five minutes about how hard it was feeling like he no longer could provide for his family, how he was frustrated by his daughter's behavior, and how he felt isolated thanks to his new income level.

For Olivia, I found that she had an almost unnatural obsession with all things Birmingham City FC, largely because her father was from the area, and was still a big fan. I immediately began to beg, borrow, and steal as much stuff related to Birmingham as I could, despite my knowledge of the sport being limited to the fact that it was, in fact, played by kicking balls around. That was fine, at the rez school I'd taught at I'd learned a hell of a lot about Rey Mysterio despite not having previously given a damn about wrestling or luchadors.

With the right incentives offered to her, Olivia bloomed. She found two other boys who were big football fans (I did, in fact, start calling it that, because now it mattered to the kiddos) and I encouraged social interaction with her. She still had occasional meltdowns, but they were now isolated to her going to a stall I'd set up in the corner of the room and slamming a football into the wall repeatedly, along with occasional outbursts that we could control. She was still hyperactive, awkward, and far behind in her language skills compared to everyone else, but I had found another strength of Olivia's.

She was practically Rain Man when it came to math. Well, five year old Rain Man anyway. Unlike her peers, Olivia could manipulate numbers easily, able to add and subtract fluently after only a few weeks of instruction, a skill that most kids don't acquire until towards the end of Year 2 or even 3. She was soon placed in charge of helping several other students with their maths (usually Harry and her two friends). Finally, she had found success in school. I'm ashamed it took me nearly until March to accomplish it, but with some very long nights, a lot of listening to kvetching from her father, and a quiet word with the parson, Olivia was blooming. I had acquired several literal scars along the way, but we had done it. Olivia was on the path to success.

I sat alone in my classroom, Harry having gone outside to play with some other children on the playground. I looked up at the ceiling and half smiled to myself. "I guess you haven't abandoned me after all," I said. "I've still got doubts. This is going to be a rather rocky relationship for a while I think. But we'll make it through. Thank you. I couldn't have done it alone."

I felt that warm stirring in your soul, the one that says "Well done, my good and faithful servant." True, it could be some endorphins playing with my mind, but as I was coming to learn, faith was a choice. A choice that I would continue to make, at least until presented with compelling evidence otherwise. I didn't believe in a big magical genie in the sky, who was capriciously smiting some while blessing others. I believed in the Man With A Plan.

And I was starting to realise that maybe, just maybe, it had been His plan that had brought me to this wacked out place after all. It was going to be a long hard journey, but it was one I was willing to take.


	10. Chapter 10

Despite my awkwardness and both of our inexperience, my relationship with Libra was deepening and broadening daily. Even with me working myself nearly to the bone, I still found time to spend with Libra, which was helped by the fact that she essentially lived at my apartment. We had found a new place with three bedrooms, one of which could be used as an office, and were waiting on the current tenants to move out before we moved in. This happily fell during the Easter Holidays, which were mid April. However, Libra's lease was up in March, and as such we were having to move everything she owned into temporary storage or into our now shared apartment.

Thankfully, Libra had acquired far less in the way of physical possessions than the average person, as she'd lived in constant fear that she would need to leave at a moment's notice. We were also able to liquidate a number of redundant items, going instead with the ones I had purchased. All in all, it took us a single weekend to get all of Libra's things emptied from her apartment. When we walked in the door of my place Sunday evening, Harry jumped about the living room, grinning at us.

"Welcome home, mom!" he cheered.

Libra pursed her lips. "Harry, you can't call me that."

Harry froze, a look of panic and fear coming over his face. Tears formed in his eyes. "I...I can't?" he stammered.

"No, love," Libra said, kneeling down to pull him into a hug. "We're British. It's mum."

"Coises," I growled. "Foiwled again! But I'll be bwack!"

"And your father needs to get a move on," Libra informed Harry. "I'm not technically your mother until we're actually married as a family. Technically, we are, in fact, living in sin."

"But that's bad!" Harry gasped.

"Don't be silly," I said, shaking my head and crossing my arms. "Vegas is thousands of miles away. I can tell; it's not very wet there."

"You're weird, dad," Harry said, then yawned.

"Let's have a story then put you to bed," Libra said, guiding Harry towards his bedroom.

I yawned and went about putting away a few of the miscellaneous items that were still scattered in boxes on the floor, trying to clear more of an open space. Just then, there was a knock at the door. I frowned and went to open it, then hesitated. It was ungodly late, and I was certainly not expecting company. I grabbed one of Libra's frying pans from a nearby box, tucking it behind my back. I unlocked the door and opened it a crack.

"Yes?" I said, peering out into the night.

A hand shot through the door, grabbing me by the collar. The motion was so sudden I dropped the pan, which made an incredible racket. I was jerked back as the door slammed open. I found my nose assaulted by the scent of heavily liquored breath, then I was pulled out onto the small porch.

"Ish Harry here?" the man holding on to me slurred. "I...I want to shee him."

In the light of the full moon behind him, I could make out that the man holding on to me was dressed in dark robes, with long black hair and eyes that burned with madness.

"Who are you?" I gasped, struggling to free myself. I managed to knee my captor in the groin, which made him yelp. He dropped me, and I fell to the **ground** and tried to scramble back.

The man lurched towards me, and I kicked at him, causing him to stumble and fall across me. I struggled for a bit, wrestling with him until I felt something jab into my gut.

"Don't...don't move. Or I'll hexsh ya," the man ordered.

"You're not taking my son," I snapped, trying to punch the man in the nose.

This, however, caused him to fly into a blind rage. "HARRY ISH NO SON OF A MUGGLE!" he roared. "STUPIFY!"

I flinched as the wand dug into my gut once more, stiffening in panic. I found myself breathing hard and laying limply. The man scrambled to his feet as I lay there, looking about the room.

There was a blinding flash and a tremendous bang, and I felt as though I was practically deafened. I struggled to my feet, looking around wildly.

"David, down!" Libra barked.

I glanced over my shoulder, and saw that the intruder was surrounded by a shimmering bubble. He sneered at us. "Shtupid muggles. I'm Shiriush Fucking Black! Those can't hurt ME! Expelliarmus!"

A jet of white light crashed into Libra, flipping her over and slamming her head into the door frame. The shotgun she'd been holding flew easily into Sirius' hand.

"You're supposed to be on our team," I gasped, unsure of what to do.

Sirius blinked at me. "Didn't I shtun you?"

I didn't answer, instead rushing forward with an angry yell and grabbing Sirius around the waist, forcing him back. We crashed back through the door, and hit the low wall behind the porch. Sirius grunted in pain, but slammed the barrel of the shotgun into my back repeatedly. I clung on for dear life, trying desperate to force him, or even both of us, over the wall and down to the parking lot below as blows rained down.

However after tiring, Sirius pointed his wand at my back once more, saying, "Stupify!"

I closed my eyes against the flash of red, but nothing happened.

"Huh?" we both said, confused by the fact that I wasn't now unconscious.

"You leave my daddy alone!" Harry shouted from behind us.

We both focused on him. "Harry, stay back! He's trying to kill us!" I ordered. "Go, hide, hopefully Dumbledore will be here soon!"

In response, Harry hissed something and threw a small red object that looked like a piece of twine. It landed on Sirius' face, and he yelped as Buttercup bit him square on the nose. He wrenched the snake free, then flung it away, cursing. However, he went limp then and began to cry.

"James...Harry itsh me? Why do you hate me James?" he begged as I once more began to try and hoist him over the side.

"You hurt my mum!" Harry barked. "And you leave my dad alone!"

I managed to get Sirius over the side. A half second later, there was a loud crack. I looked down, and instead of a body I found only wet asphalt. All over the building, lights were coming on and shouts were heard. "Call the police Mr. Green," I bellowed at our next door neighbor as I ran back inside.

"On their way," our elderly neighbor answered, his face peering at me through a small window.

I raced to Libra's side, tears forming in my eyes as I cradled Libra in my arms.

"Dad, what do we do?" Harry sobbed, falling to his knees beside me.

"Call 999," I ordered. "Tell them we need an ambulance, and quickly."

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and bent my head so that my ear was by Libra's mouth. "Still breathing," I gasped in relief. I immediately checked for signs of more injuries. It didn't take long to spot the massive pool of blood forming at the back of Libra's head. I yanked my shirt off, carefully wrapping around the contusion while making sure not to move her head or neck much. Keeping pressure on the wound, I began to sob, praying all the while. It went something like, "Oh God let her be OK, Oh God let her be OK!"

I rocked back and forth on my knees, listening as Harry talked to the operator in a panic stricken voice.

"A bad man came and threw mum into the wall! She won't get up and I can see blood! Dad's back is bleeding pretty bad too and he's got blood all over his face!"

"I'm alright, Harry," I said weakly. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off though, I began to notice that my back was wet and hurt like hell, and I could taste iron in my mouth. I tried to wipe my nose with my arm, and found that it flopped all over the place and hurt like hell. Broken, probably, I mentally inventoried.

I sat there in a daze until EMS arrived on the scene. "She's hurt worse," I said, handing my stained shirt to the paramedics and beginning to shake uncontrollably. "Head injury. Got slammed into the wall really hard."

"Sir, sir I need you to look at me," one of the medics said as they strapped Libra onto a body board and lifted up.

I tried to focus on the penlight the medic was holding, but I couldn't focus my eyes. Everything seemed to be pulsing for some reason, and despite the cold I began to feel warm.

"He's going into shock!" someone whispered close by. I sagged over, struggling to stay conscious.

"Harry," I slurred. "He was after Harry."

What were the symptoms of shock? I was...I was an Eagle scout. I should remember this. You...you elevated...something. And blankets…

I blacked out.

We never found Buttercups body. The brave little milk snake had given her life to save us, something I never thought I'd be able to say. I'm fairly certain she was eaten by a predator of some kind, or fell into a crevasse we never were able to retrieve her from. It had been days until we were able to search for her though, so that wasn't surprising.

Louise came and got Harry, and he was placed in an emergency home. To my surprise, it was the Davers. Apparently, everyone had heard about the situation, and the recently sober Frederick Davers apparently thought he owed me something. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I came to the next morning in the hospital. To my surprise, I had a visitor. I opened my eyes and found a balding man with red hair and glasses sitting next to my bed, chuckling to himself as he read the morning paper.

"Where's Harry?" I gasped, trying to sit up. "Libra, is she alright?"

"Oh! Goodness, no, don't do that, don't do that," the man said, standing up and gently forcing me back down. "Harry is quite safe. Libra has been taken to a...special hospital. She'll be quite well. Your injuries were far less serious, and it was decided not to move you."

I squinted up at the man. "I know you," I muttered. "You're...I've seen you before. I can't remember where."

The man chuckled, shaking his head. "We have never met, you and I, Mr. Murphy. Though don't tell the muggles here that. They think I'm your cousin."

My eyes widened, and I felt my pulse quicken and I stiffened. "You're a wizard!"

"Please, please, calm down," the man said. "I'm Arthur Weasley. I owe you more than I can ever repay, Mr. Murphy. I have come to understand that you saved my son's life."

I relaxed slightly, but eyed Mr. Weasley skeptically. "Saved Black too. He tried to kill me."

Mr. Weasley let out a heavy sigh and waved his wand, muttering something under his breath that sounded like pig latin. "We can talk freely for a few minutes. I dare not use any really strong magic, for fear I could disrupt all these wondrous machines of yours." He sat heavily in the chair on the paper, and I suddenly noticed he had dark circles under his eyes. "Mr. Black is a very, very unhealthy individual. Far more than we ever realized."

"What happened?" I demanded. "Why did he attack us last night?"

"That, I am afraid, is a long, very painful tale. I will be brief and hit the key points however. Last night was, as you know, the full moon. Sirius has been going out to the Forbidden Forest with Remus Lupin, which is a secret so do not tell anyone if you please, as his lycanthropy is not well known. However, last night, the two had something of a falling out, over what I am not quite sure yet, but I know they have been arguing a great deal these past few weeks."

"Instead of going with Lupin, Black left the forest not long after moonrise. He had somehow acquired your address, and despite his ineptitude in the muggle world, he managed to locate your home. He did not intend to hurt you or anyone else, he was only desperate to see Harry, who he views as his last link to his previous, far more happy life. However, he had also been drinking as he searched, and by the time he found he he was very inebriated indeed."

"The letter," I groaned. "I'm so stupid! I post marked it with my own return address!"

"Ah," Mr. Weasley nodded. "Not your fault. We all thought Sirius was doing much better, and could once more be trusted."

"He was in Azka-freaking-ban for years!" I snarled. "Of course he wasn't well!"

"He is a better actor than we gave him credit for," Mr. Weasley admitted. "But this brings me to my own, abit minor, part in this tale. We did not know Sirius was absent for some time. However, when the wards at your home were triggered by Sirius' assault on you and your family, Dumbledore arrived on the scene not long after. He saw that Sirius was gone, and that you and your wife were already in the care of the muggle healers."

"She's not my wife," I said. Then my eyes widened. "Oh God, oh God she's not my wife! I...I never even asked her to marry me! We never even had sex! Oh God, the woman I love is dead, and I've wasted everything!"

I began to weep bitter tears, which caused Mr. Weasley to pop up and pad my face with a handkerchief. "There, there, she's quite alright Mr. Murphy. She's in-"

"Get off of me," I snarled, feebly shoving at the clucking wizard.

Mr. Weasley stepped back, his face a picture of fatherly concern. "Libra Macnair then, is safely at my home. My wife is quite adept at healing the various cuts, scrapes, and even concussions that a herd of boys with access to brooms acquire. The last I heard, she was in a restorative sleep and well on the way to recovery."

I blinked, trying to focus and struggling to do so. It felt like my mind was full of fog. "She...she's OK? And Harry?"

"With a friend from school," Mr. Weasley informed me. "Severus Snape is standing guard for the moment."

"You keep that fucking disgrace away from my son," I spat, struggling to sit up. "That man is an insult to the profession of pedagogy and one sick bastard."

Arthur Weasley recoiled, shaking his head. "I...very well. I shall go relieve him then. But for me to do so, you must first drink this." He withdrew a stoppered clay vial from his pocket.

"Fine," I growled, and chugged it. I immediately began coughing. "Urgh! It tastes like donkey whizz and goat droppings!"

Mr. Weasley frowned, sniffing the bottle then bringing a drop to his lips and licking it. He immediately yawned, then shook his head. "No, no that's Molly's best restorative sleep potion. I...I've never seen anyone not immediately nod off after drinking a whole bottle."

"Just go," I told him. "The doctors here can take care of me."

Mr. Weasley nodded and stepped out. A short time later a nurse came in, took my vitals, then gave me a shot in my IV. I was soon sound asleep once more.

In total, I was in the hospital for three days. I had multiple large contusions and bruises on my back, two broken ribs, a broken nose, and had gone into shock from both seeing Libra get hurt and the extreme physical exertion and violence. I was a wreck, and had to be driven home by Frederick.

"Brave what you did," he told me as we puttered along the sleepy streets of Little Whinging. "That mad man had a gun he did. Tried to kill you all. Should have killed you. Don't know how you an' Libra managed not to get yourselves all killed."

"By the grace of God," I said, looking out the window. And some really weird stuff, now that I had time to ponder it. Why had I not been knocked out cold by Sirius' magic? It had worked fine on Libra, that much was obvious, and he'd clearly been able to make some sort of shield that had made the shotgun completely useless. His magic hadn't been the problem. So what had been?

We stopped at my apartment, and Fred had to help me up the stairs. Apparently, I had to call him that now, as we "were mates and all." I was now Dave, a name I really didn't like. David was a noble warrior king. Dave was the guy who flipped burgers. Oh well. Small sacrifices.

Harry and Olivia were playing on the Nintendo together when we came inside. Harry jumped up and hugged me, and Olivia stood and looked at me for a moment, then awkwardly came up and held up her open hand. I high fived it. Aspies. No social skills, but you gotta love 'em.

"I was so scared daddy," Harry whispered as I embraced him. "I thought you and mummy were going to die."

"We're alright, kid," I said, kissing the top of his head. "That which does not kill us only makes us miserable."

Harry tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob.

"Tea, everyone?" Maribelle Davers asked, coming into the room with a tray of steaming mugs. "How do you take yours, David?"

"Honey," I said, making myself not grimace. I was really not a tea guy. Well, not hot tea. I loved me some iced tea, but that was different.

We all had tea together, and then the Davers fussed over me for a bit. I assured them Harry and I would be fine. Catherine had come to visit me in the hospital, told me I was a hero, and that if I so much as drove past the school before the end of the Easter Holidays, I was fired. She knew me all too well.

Once everyone was gone, there was a knock at the door. I growled, and Harry flinched.

"It's me," a cheery voice called. "Just come to check up on you."

"Dad, who is it?" Harry whispered, clutching onto my arm tightly.

"Go open the door, Harry," I groaned. "Looks like you get to meet another wizard. One who probably isn't trying to kill us or kidnap you."

The smiling face of Arthur Weasley was revealed as the door swung open, and he held up a pot. "I brought you both some supper. Molly figured neither of you would be much for cooking for a few days. Libra says Harry loves spaghetti."

"Yes," Harry said quietly, looking down shyly. He glanced back up at Mr. Weasley and blurted, "Will you help me find Buttercup?"

Even with magic's help, Buttercup and her mortal coil were long gone. Harry wept for a long time when the search had to be given up due to failing light. Mr. Weasley was great with him, as I suppose you'd expect a guy with seven children to be.

"Libra sends her love," he informed us as he dished up the pasta. "She's just about fully recovered, but to be safe we're giving her a few more days. She's gone practically mad with being kept in bed, but Molly is a force of nature when she wants to be, and the poor girl could use some mothering."

"She's my mum," Harry declared. "She said so."

Arthur gave Harry a sad smile, then patted him on the back. "I'm glad you found another one, Harry. Lily and James would be so pleased."

That brought on the waterworks again, and with the hour growing late Mr. Weasley put Harry to bed. He helped me to Libra's bedroom, then lay me down in the bed I hadn't slept in for a very long time.

"Rest, Mr. Murphy," Mr. Weasley said. "It's the best healer of all."

"Thanks," I said, groaning as I lay down. I peered up at him, studying the man's face. "You're a lot less spacey than I thought you'd be. You haven't even asked me how my television works or something."

Mr. Weasley chuckled. "As much as I am, in fact, dying to ask you any number of questions about how your telervision works or how aeroplanes stay up without levitation charms, I know when a man is knackered, and should be left well enough alone. Another time, perhaps."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Thanks again."

"No, Mr. Murphy, thank you." With that, Mr. Weasley left, and soon I was once more wrapped in sleep's sweet embrace.

It was a full three more days before Libra returned, wearing several superfluous bandages as her wounds had been cured through magic, and would not normally have healed so quickly. We cried a lot when we saw each other again, Harry wrapped around both of us and blubbering right along. Finally, I composed myself to carefully lower myself to one knee, putting an arm around Harry.

"Libra," I said, "I know this is sudden, but-"

"David," she blurted. "I have something to tell you."

I blinked, my courage slowly evaporating at the interruption. I swallowed, nodding. "Ok." After all, maybe now was not the best time to ask Libra to marry me.

"David, while I was ill I thought about nothing but you and Harry," Libra said, kneeling herself and taking my hand in both of hers. "I remembered how it felt to see you fighting with Sirius, and, well, thinking you could die. I realized I was just wasting time, trying to do things the proper way when that's all bollocks anyway."

I blinked. She wasn't going to-

"David, will you marry me?" Libra whispered, her hands trembling. "I know it's not the usual way for the woman to ask, but sometimes you're just so thick and I-"

"Yes," I whispered, pulling Libra into a hug. "With all of my heart, yes."

There was a loud sniff, and Molly Weasley, who had delivered Libra, began to pat her cheek and cry about how beautiful the whole thing was.

"Not now, Molly," Mr. Weasley whispered, taking his wife on his arm and leading her outside. "Let's give these two a moment of privacy, hmmm?"

We were all three a complete mess for a very long time, everyone crying and laughing and hugging and kissing. Harry was overjoyed, and kept saying "We're a real family, we're a real family."

"I love you," I told Libra. "I don't know if I've said that before. It was implied, but I just thought you needed to hear it."

"I love you too, David," Libra declared. "More than anything."

Once we had composed ourselves, Libra hauled me back to my feet. Molly saw and bustled back in, holding up her wand. "Oh, let me help you Mr. Murphy, I can just-"

"No," Libra growled, putting herself between Molly and me. "No more magic."

"Wait," I said, putting my hand on Libra's shoulder. "Let her try. I want to see what happens."

Libra gave me a hurt and baffled look, and I smiled and kissed her awkwardly on the cheek, as my face was still bandaged up. "Trust me."

Libra nodded, and stepped aside.

Molly raised her wand as her husband quietly closed the door, then said several things in weird latin while waving the wand over my face. Nothing happened. "Well, that's odd," Molly said, frowning. "Let me just try that again dear." Once more she waved the wand and said the words. Again, nothing. This time Molly tried with different motions and words. Nada. There were sparks and light, but I felt no different.

"What in the world," Arthur murmured, stepping forward and examining my face.

"You try," Molly said, looking offended. "I don't know why it won't work."

Arthur raised his wand and did several spells. He managed to dry my shirt off from all the tears and snot, but nothing he did affected my wounds. "This is very strange," Arthur said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but it seems there is nothing we can do."

"I kinda figured that was the case," I said, nodding slowly. "That potion you gave me in the hospital didn't do jack. Neither did the spells Sirius used on me. Where is the jerk by the way?"

"Sirius is in the intensive care ward at Saint Mungo's," Mr. Weasley said. "He will not be released until the healers find him to be of both sound body and mind, which I am afraid may not be for some time."

"Good," I growled. That son of a bitch hurt my family. I could forgive him later. Much later.

The Weasleys stood awkwardly for a moment, until Molly cleared her throat. "Well, we really must be going. Percy is minding the others, but the twins, well, they can be a bit much. Oh! But let us know when the wedding is, we'll be sure to attend!"

With a cheery wave, Molly and Arthur left, closing the door behind them.

"I don't like her at all," Libra growled. "The nerve. Inviting herself to my wedding."

"To be fair, she did just save your life," I pointed out. "Or at the very least, spare you several weeks of convalescing and possible permanent brain damage. You got off lucky."

Libra grunted and shrugged, but then turned around to study my face. "But David, their magic, it did nothing at all to you? Why? Are you some sort of wizard?"

"No,"I said firmly. "In fact, I think I'm the complete opposite. Come on, let's have a sit down."

Once we were seated, I explained my theory. "The thing is, I'm nearly certain that was no magic where and when I come from, not even a little bit. Harry, you, the Weasleys, you didn't exist, and neither did magic. Why, I don't know, but it seems to be the truth. That makes me pretty grateful I came here though, because otherwise I'd never have met you." I awkwardly took Libra's hand in mine, and gave it a weak squeeze. Sweet mother of Venus, I was weak. I still felt light headed and dizzy from standing up for too long due to all the aches and pains I had.

"Now, logically, I had to get here somehow. How and why I don't know, but I think it was all a part of God's plan. Laugh if you want, but I do."

Libra nodded frantically. "I'll convert, it that's what you want," she blurted. "Anything, whatever you need."

"No," I told her firmly. "Faith isn't something that should be forced upon you or professed because you want someone to love and accept you. And for the record, I already do. I did say yes, after all. You beat me to the punch by like 30 seconds."

Libra laughed in a slightly hysteric tone, which soon dissolved into giggles and then hiccups as she motioned for me to continue.

"Now, if there was no magic in my world, maybe, just maybe, this world recognizes that I'm not quite a part of it. Or, maybe I just bought some unmagicalness along with me. Whatever it is, it seems like I'm somehow completely unaffected by magic." I held up my shirt. "Look, they used spells to clean this. But see," I pointed to the bandage on my nose. "Nothing affected me. This is, obviously, a bit of a double edged sword."

"But you've got superpowers!" Harry said excitedly. "I knew it! Mum, mum, do you have superpowers too?!"

Libra looked extremely hurt by this question, and I quickly said, "Mums have loads of superpowers. Eyes in the back of their head. Hearing better than Superman's. And they can dry tears and make owies go away faster than anyone else."

Harry nodded seriously, apparently satisfied that this was in fact a power set, and Libra hugged me tightly. "Thank you," she whispered, wiping away a tear. Her lack of magic was obviously an extremely sore subject. Being at the Burrow must have been hell. "But your father is right, Harry. If he's immune to magic, that might save him from a spell sent to kill him, but it can't help him either. The Weasley's spells were completely benign, they would have helped David recover much faster."

"Right," I said nodding. "And I'm willing to bet it's not actually all that useful. Sure, a stunning spell didn't affect me in the slightest, but I'd probably be horrifically burned from a fireball. It would super heat the air, burning my lungs and causing third degree burns just from the contact, even if the actual fire itself didn't directly affect me."

"We should ask Mr. Dumbledore," Harry opined. "He knows lots about magic."

"Not a bad idea at all," I agreed. "I'm sure he knows more about this than any of us. But, to be frank, I don't know that I trust him or the other wizards all that much. They seem to think of us as little better than children that need to be taken care of, and have little to no respect for us or our rights." And, finally, I knew what it was like to be black. Not exactly something I was proud about, but I had never really understood how minorities must have felt until the very real terror of those in power and their casual abuse of it or their total disregard for my wants and needs could affect how you saw the world.

I was also not going to start using the n word or proclaiming that I understood the black experience or anything, but I'd be a hell of a lot more sympathetic to Black Lives Matter.

"That is, perhaps, the smartest thing you have ever said," Libra declared. "Well, except for agreeing to marry me."

I grinned stupidly, remembering that little detail. "Yeah. Yeah that does sound pretty good."

"So are you too going to kiss more now?" Harry asked. "Because I'll try not to make faces but you can both be pretty gross."

"We'll try to keep the more interesting activities out of your line of sight," I promised Harry. I slid my hand down Libra's back toward her rear, something I'd been hesitant to do in the past.

"Come on, let's get you into bed," Libra said.

Now, I confess, at that moment, I was ready to be a weak, weak man, and give in to the seductress. Or, perhaps, rip her clothes off and get very carnal. Not that I really knew much about it, but my lower brain was screaming that this was an excellent idea.

Libra led me into the bedroom, and gingerly tried to take my shirt off as she let her hand wander down to some interesting places. After a moment, she gave up with all the bandages, and moved on to more interesting things.

We tried to kiss, but my bandages made that a bit of a mess. Libra lowered me onto the bad so that I was laying down, then got on top of me and began to take her shirt off. I got my first look at her in only a bra (well, my first proper look. We had been living together so I had seen more than was strictly kosher). Libra started to grind her hips onto mine, and I let out a yelp of pain.

"Ow! Libra, I don't think I can do this," I gasped.

"Shh," she said, her voice low and raspy and she lowered herself onto me, putting my hand on her breasts. "We both want this, you know that. Jesus will surely approve, we are getting married anyway."

"No," I groaned, my back all awash with pain as my nose ached. "No, I mean I don't think I can physically do this. Like, at all. I'm in pretty terrible shape."

Libra jerked away, her hands going to cover her breasts as she gasped in panic. "Oh, oh God, I'm so sorry, David I-"

"It's ok," I groaned, trying to sit up and mostly failing. "Help me out here."

Libra assisted me into a sitting position, blushing and putting her shirt back on. Which was a real shame in my opinion. Her breasts were perfect, the size of ripe tomatoes and apparently, very perky by the way her nipples had been sticking nearly through the fabric.

"Urgh," I groaned. "I was actually willing to do it. The spirit was willing, but the body is weak."

"Well, perhaps it's for the best," Libra agreed, not meeting my eyes and sitting down at the foot of the bed. "Now that I actually think about it, I'd hate for you to have any guilt about our first time."

"Maybe," I agreed. "Though I hear there are other bases. I'm not sure where second and third are, but I'm willing to try, even if we have to wait for the homer."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Libra demanded.

I began to explain the XKCD baseball metaphor. Before I was even was even halfway through my poorly recalled explanation, Libra was howling with laughter.

"You really are too much," Libra gasped, wiping away tears. "Baseball. My God David, you do not have a romantic bone in your body."

I glanced down at the covers, where there was a slight bulge. "I don't know about that, I seem to have a bone right here, even if I can't do anything about it at the moment."

Libra fell into giggles, and to my delight, removed her shirt again. "Don't worry," she purred. "I'll be gentle. We'll have that taken care of in a moment. Then you can help me with something."

As it turned out, what we did was a terrible idea that caused me tremendous pain in the end, and we had to delay our triple and settle for what I think is a double. It was, however, totally worth it.

Even if Libra doesn't understand baseball still.


	11. Chapter 11

I hate to use an old cliche, but if I had been in a movie my wounds would have been something I heroically laughed off by the start of the next episode. As it turns out however, reality works somewhat differently.

My broken nose was a fairly minor injury, but it took two weeks before it started to feel better. The cuts and bruises on my back, on the other hand, were far more serious. I had avoided spraining or injuring my spine, but I had a hard time standing or walking for a week after Libra got home. Sirius had beaten me pretty severely with the shotgun over my shoulders and back, and the doctors told me to avoid strenuous activity for another two weeks.

"What about uh, certain kinds of strenuous activity?" I asked Dr. Edwards while I was sitting in his office.

Dr. Edwards was an elderly English gentleman with a posh upper class accent who made me feel like a bit of a rube, so while I trusted him with my health, I wasn't exactly comfortable around him. The doctor peered over his spectacles at me, raising his eyebrows. "I assume you are asking when it will be alright to have sex, yes? I noticed the ring on Miss Macnair's finger. Congratulations, by the way."

I stammered a response, and the doctor smiled at me. "I have been looking after the health of young men for quite some time, Mr. Murphy. Yours is neither the oddest nor most outrageous question I have received. Your injuries are extensive, but they are healing nicely. If I were you however, I would give it another week, just to be safe. We don't want to reopen any of your contusions or cause internal bleeding. I am more concerned about your partner however. I recall she had several extensive head and back injuries. I would consult with her physician before attempting anything."

"Yeah, um, thanks," I mumbled, pulling my shirt back on. I winced slightly at the motion, but kept a game face.

"Come see me again in a week's time," Dr. Edwards ordered, going to the trash to dispose of his gloves. "If you're doing well, you can resume your strenuous activities."

"Oh, we haven't, er, that is," I stammered, then blushed. "Thanks."

I hobbled out of there as fast as I could, though I could have sworn I saw the doctor wink at me.

Libra was waiting in the office, her fake bandages now gone. She was chatting with the receptionist, showing off the ring we'd purchased for her. It was fairly simple, a silver band set with a small stone. I could easily have afforded something much more expensive, but Libra had been set on something less showy. Still, she was taking every opportunity to show it off, and the other ladies seemed to coo over it at every chance.

It was nice to get to see her show off the jewelry though. Me, in my infinite powers of observation, had never noticed that Libra had never had any jewelry on, aside from some small cheap earrings. The silver pendant I had gotten her had been the first jewelry she'd ever received or worn on a regular basis. She explained it was because she didn't want to attract attention, and that she had never seen the point in such silly frivolous things. I was fairly certain this was an out and out lie, because she wore that pendant every day, and I don't think she even took her ring off to shower. At least I knew what to get for her birthday next august.

I was coming to learn that while I might very well consider Libra to be a goddess, she was a deeply wounded individual. The attack by Sirius Black had resulted in me finally starting to sleep in the same bed as Libra, (though we both remained clothed) due to a sudden and very severe bout of nightmares.

Libra had tried sleeping on the couch the first night, only to awaken Harry and I with an ear piercing scream around midnight. I hobbled into the living room to find her weeping on the floor, curled up into a ball and rocking herself.

"Mum? Mum what's wrong?" Harry had asked, stumbling into the room and looking around wildly. "Is it more bad guys?"

I saw that the door was securely locked still. "Harry, go back to bed," I ordered. "It will be alright."

Harry whimpered softly, shaking his head. "But I'm scared."

"I'm alright," Libra said, wiping away her tears and trying to smile. "It was just a bad dream."

"Mhmm," I said, setting myself down beside her. "Come here, Harry."

Harry curled up between the two of us, and we ended up drifting in and out of sleep for the rest of the night.

neither of us had to be at work the next day, so things settled down fast enough.

However, the next night, I awoke to hear sounds of whimpering once more. I found Libra sobbing to herself on the couch, and gently put a hand on her shoulder. She started awake, clawing and scratching like a wild cat. Thankfully, she kept her nails short, and I have thick skin.

"Hey, shh, it's alright," I said. "Come on. Let's put you to bed."

"But you can't-" Libra protested, but I shook my head.

"Neither of us are in any condition to do anything immoral. And I don't think you can sleep alone."

She fell asleep clinging to me for dear life. About half an hour later as I was drifting off, I found Harry standing beside the bed.

"I had nightmares," he whispered.

I held out an arm. "Come on kid. Room for one more."

Harry's bad dreams went away after a week for the most part, though I did still check on him whenever I woke up to use the bathroom. Libra's, on the other hand, seemed to only get worse.

"Have you had these before?" I asked her on the fifth night of her jerking awake in a panic.

"Yes," she admitted. "They were very bad when I was a young girl. One of my foster homes kicked me out because I was always waking them up in the middle of the night with my dreams. They came back again when I was 19. Someone I am certain was a wizard followed me into a store. I tried to lose him, but he exited shortly after I did and seemed to follow me home. I managed to loose him in an alleyway, but I was in an utter panic. I didn't leave my flat for two days. My flatmate thought I had had a mental break, which maybe I did. It was months before the dreams went away again."

"Then, five years ago, they came back. I was in a complete panic when witches and wizards started turning up all over the country. I thought they were after me. Even when I learned Tom was dead, I was still in a near panic. It only got worse after the news about Sirius Black broke. I took a full month off of work, and went nearly a week with no sleep. I was so certain my father and brother would show up with their friends at any moment, ready to torture me, rape me, turn me into a slave, then kill me. It...it was the worst time of my life."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and I squeezed her tightly but kept my silence.

"And now, my worst fear has come to pass. We really have been attacked by a murderous wizard. And despite the guns and the training we've both been taking since Christmas, they did nothing, just as I always feared. I was completely powerless and helpless. But you...you fought back, David."

"Poorly," I said. "And to be honest, you were a lot smarter about than I was. And really I got lucky that Sirius didn't try anything a little fancier. If he'd conjured ropes to bind me or just used magic to throw things at me I don't think I would have had any protection at all."

"I don't know what to do," Libra wept, shaking her head. "I feel so useless!"

"You could always do what I do in times like these," I suggested. "We could pray."

I thought at first that Libra would reject me or scoff at the offer, but instead she nodded. "Alright."

I closed my eyes and tried to think of the words that so often fail me. I gave up, and let control slip out of my hands. "Heavenly father, we feel so lost and alone now. We feel like we're on a tiny leaky boat in the middle of the ocean during a raging storm, like we have no hope of survival. Please God, comfort Libra and me. We need your peace that surpasses all understanding."

Libra nodded her thanks, then lay in my arms for a while. When we finally got up, she seemed at least a little better.

The nightmares lessened after that, but they didn't go away. I figured Libra had a pretty bad case of PTSD, but I knew that we couldn't exactly go see a counselor. We'd have to handle this together.

Not that I was doing much better. The entire experience had completely emasculated me. I had, to be blunt, been thoroughly thrashed in my own home, unable to protect those I loved from serious injury. It hadn't been me who got the gun and opened fire, it had been Libra, the woman I loved and thought it was my duty to protect. My own sleep was troubled, but unlike Libra I was on some pretty killer pain meds and couldn't recall anything beyond a vague sense of unease when I awoke.

Still, I felt like a useless failure. I couldn't drown myself in work like I usually did, and with the Easter Holidays just around the corner I felt even more helpless and useless. We all moped around the apartment, save for brief trips to the park, and one trip to a restaurant that we all agreed wasn't as much fun as we wanted. During what should have been a time of blissful happiness when I was engaged to a beautiful woman and Harry had found a real mother, we instead were all miserable together.

And then the Easter Holidays came, and on the very first night my favorite person in the world showed up.

"Good afternoon," Albus Dumbledore said when Libra opened the door. "Might I come in? I brought some fresh bread pudding to share."

Libra glanced at me, her mouth in a thin line. I got to my feet, coming over to the door. "Yeah. We need to have a long talk. About a lot of things."

We all went into the kitchen and sat around the table. Harry put the kettle on, smiling nervously at Dumbledore. Dumbledore returned the smile, and served up the bread pudding. "I cannot begin to tell you how much I regret the terrible tragedy that befell you all three weeks ago," Dumbledore said once we were all seated.

"That's freaking fantastic," I snapped. "But I have to say, what the hell man? You're supposed to be the greatest, most powerful wizard of your generation and the smartest one to boot. How in the hell did you not see this colossal disaster coming?"

Dumbledore sighed heavily and removed his glasses, rubbing them on his robe before returning them to his nose. I noticed, perhaps for the first time, that he was old. Ancient, really. I mean, I had got that he wasn't a spring chicken from the white hair and all, but he'd had this sort of ageless, immortal quality in my mind, sort of like Gandalf did. After all, he was to me more of a character from a book than a real person. However, in that motion, I saw not a powerful wizard, but an old man, one weary of the world.

"I confess, I was blinded in this situation," Dumbledore said softly. "I love Sirius Black dearly. I was something of a substitute father figure for him, and I've always thought of him as a dear young nephew of sorts. That is one reason why his supposed betrayal cut me so deeply, and why I made only a cursory attempt to inquire as to his guilt. And why I hesitated out of a sense of grief to free him.

"When he was freed, I made every effort to dote on him and shower him with the affection I thought he so richly deserved. I had him over for tea at Hogwarts on a regular basis. My current Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is an inept fool, and I was attempting to persuade Sirius to take the job, only for a year or two, to help him get his feet back under him.

"I should have seen he was not ready. That his mind was damaged deeply, first by the loss of his closest friend and companion, and then by long term exposure to the dementors. He was more dog than man in many ways, having spent too much time in his animagus form. All instinct, no rational thought. And yet he still joked, still pulled slight pranks like turning people's hair pink, or dosing Severus with a farting potion in his tea."

"Oh, I bet that went over well," I muttered.

"And yet another area of blindness for me I think. But, there was also Remus Lupin. You see, Remus is another individual I feel a great deal of guilt about. He is a werewolf, and life has been extremely unkind to him."

"You did hire him as a Hogwarts professor. Surely he has to be good at that job at least," I said.

"Indeed, he has quite the reputation as an expert on Dark Creatures. However, I would still have to hide his condition. I would be more than willing to do this, as I believe Remus would make an excellent teacher."

"You sure went out of your way for him more than me," Libra grumbled.

Dumbledore hesitated, then nodded. "Perhaps. The bias against squibs is not as strong, as while werewolves are dark creatures, squibs are simply, shall we say, muggles of a different breed. However, I will stand by my earlier assertion that I did what I could for you, Mrs. Murphy."

Libra and I both blushed.

"Ah, not yet," Libra stammered. "We haven't...we haven't chosen a date yet."

"Ah, my mistake," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling slightly. "But still, congratulations. May you both find happiness, and may your joy grow."

"But getting back to Sirius, what went wrong that night?" I demanded. "And how can we prevent something like that from happening again?"

"Ah, that is quite simple. You see, while Sirius was desperate to go and meet Harry, Remus and I were in complete agreement that it was not yet time. Despite his improvement and our willful blindness to his deeper hurts, we both agreed that Sirius was not ready to step into the muggle world, and that not only would his presence confuse Harry at this time, but it would also be extremely uncomfortable for the two of you. You have both been excellent parents to Harry in my estimation, and will continue to be so, but it would be best if your family had time to cement itself before introducing Harry's godfather."

"Black is Harry's godfather?" Libra gasped. "That madman is…" she bit her tongue, glaring at Dumbledore.

"So you see why I kept him away. He would have easy ground for legal custody in the wizarding world, and in yours as well, being Harry's legal guardian according to both law and custom. He was the second choice for Harry's placement should his parents perish. The first was, of course, his Aunt, who while not his godmother, was his blood relation. She also had a child of her own and a stable household, unlike Black who is a determined bachelor."

"Huh," I mused. "I always thought he'd be a ladies man of sorts."

"While Sirius Black has had a great many romantic dalliances, he has never been in a committed relationship," Dumbledore said. "As the heir to a great fortune and one possessed of no small amount of good looks, he did indeed leverage that into the arms of several young ladies. However, the number of his encounters are far less than he would tell you, or what others would guess I believe. His reasons for this I can guess at, but that is not my place."

Abused child, lack of love and affection growing up, a belief that he was doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, and probably terrified to ever have kids of his own because he was worried he'd be every inch his own parents. Not that hard to work out in my opinion.

"As I said, Sirius was obsessed with locating Harry. One warning sign we should have paid more heed to was his frequent lapses in referring to him as James. Lupin was, for lack of a better term, Sirius' minder. He kept a close eye on the man, and kept him from diving too far into a black mood, excuse the pun."

"Well, that would have worked out just fine if he wasn't a bloody werewolf," Libra said, throwing her hands up in the air.

Harry came back with the tea, setting it down in front of us. We all lingered over it for a moment, and Harry went back and got an ice cube tray and a mason jar. He handed it to me, and I gave him a grateful smile. I poured the whole thing into the jar, swirling the ice around.

"What on earth are you doing?" Dumbledore said, looking completely mystified.

"It's an american thing," Libra sniffed. "I wouldn't expect someone as sheltered as you to understand it."

Point to Libra! I might accept friendly ribbing from her, but from Dumbledore it was kinda offensive.

"Ah," Dumbledore said, and sipped at his own tea.

I continued to stir mine as it cooled, taking two sugar cubes and dropping them as I did so. "So, I take it Black was especially insistent that night to find Harry?"

"No, actually," Dumbledore said. "He and Lupin were fighting over his treatment of Snape. The day before was when he had administered the farting potion. Snape was, of course, livid. Sirius was rather rude, though I confess I found the incident amusing, which was not wise of me. Lupin later admonished Sirius, and while Lupin was quite ill the next day due to the full moon rising, he and Sirius fought over his immaturity. I believe the final straw was when Lupin told Black he needed to grow up if he ever wished to see Harry again."

"I don't ever want to see him again," Harry muttered. "He killed Buttercup."

Dumbledore looked uncomfortable at this. "Ah. Yes, your pet snake. We will discuss that more in a moment. However, I am sure you can work the rest out. They traveled to the Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts, where Lupin was to transform and Black to relax as his dog form. However, just as the moon rose, Sirius left and called the Knight Bus, which he took to Little Whinging. He apparently got several bottles of liquor from a muggle store by charming the occupants, then went on a search for Harry. He found you, and the tragedy we are all aware of took place."

"What you are not aware of, however, is how much danger this incident has placed Harry in. Black had several confrontations with muggles and used magic multiple times in highly illegal and visible ways. If everyone didn't already feel terribly guilty about locking him in Azkaban for three years, he would likely be there now for legitimate reasons. As it is, it was agreed he'd acted because of the damage sustained during that time, was was placed under the care of mind healers."

"Should have tried that sooner," I muttered.

Dumbledore ignored me. "This has meant that the Ministry has become involved. The know Black was searching for Harry. They do not know that he found Harry, at least I do not believe they have done so yet."

I stood, cold sweat breaking out. "Oh my God. If the ministry knows, Lucius Malfoy knows. And if he knows, we're as good as dead."

"My brother," Libra said, all color going out of her face. "He'll find us."

"There is little danger of that at this time," Dumbledore said gently, motioning us back down. "Arthur Weasley has worked tirelessly on your behalf. The Ministry has no reason to believe Harry is with anyone but his relatives. Indeed, that is the story that has been spread. As they have moved, it is believed that Sirius simply was randomly searching and became confused and assaulted a random muggle couple, David and Laura Murphy and their son Harold. The record indicates that the three of you were obviated. The muggle police reports show that Sirius was armed with a gun, but fled the scene. They are still searching for him as you well know, though from the vague description you kindly gave they will likely never find him."

I had, in fact, lied and said I didn't know the man, and that he had looked and smelled like a drunk looking for money for drugs and booze, as had Libra and Harry. The police had accepted this, as it made perfect sense.

"Well that answers that," I said. "I'm still not comfortable with staying here."

"I am in agreement with you," Dumbledore said, nodding and looking grim. "It is a small chance someone will realize Black did indeed locate Harry Potter, or learn the true identity of 'Laura Murphy.' But it is a chance. There are several safe homes that the Order of the Phoenix, that is the old wartime organization against Voldemort that formed around me, has prepared. We can move you into one immediately."

Libra set her teacup down with a click. "No."

Dumbledore blinked. "I'm sorry, but I really think-"

"I said no," Libra snapped. "I'm not fleeing one group of wizards to fall into the power of another. That point is not one up for discussion. My family is in charge of its own destiny. We are not going to be your puppets any more than we are going to be Tom's victims."

"No, Libra, I really think that we-" I began, but Libra cut me off.

"David, bedroom. Now." She stood and I followed her down the short hall, before she whirled and glared and Dumbledore. "And no listening charms. I want your word on that."

Dumbledore slowly nodded. "Very well. You have it. I shall not abuse your already fragile trust."

"Keep on eye on him kiddo," I told Harry. "You make sure he behaves."

"Yes sir," Harry agreed, locking eyes with Dumbledore.

We went into the bedroom, and no sooner had the door shut then Libra whirled on me. "How dare you!"

"What did I do?" I said, throwing my hands up in the air.

"Am I or am I not going to be your wife?" Libra demanded.

"I don't see what that-"

Libra poked a finger into my chest, going up on her tiptoes so that her eyes were level with mine. "Answer the bloody question! Am I or am I not going to be your wife?"

"You are," I said, fighting back the desire to complain she was being irrational.

"Then let me make something clear to you. I am willing to be wrong. I am willing to admit that sometimes, I am emotional and irrational and have phobias and hang ups and maybe even that moving into Dumbledore's safe house is a good idea I had made a poor hasty decision on. But you don't tell me that in front of him!" Libra pointed her finger towards the kitchen.

"When they're there, we present a united front. You make a bonehead statement, I will back you up. I do something emotional and rash, you back me up. Then, later, when we're alone, we can talk to one another and together, come up with a plan. If it's pressing, you can even whisper in my ear or pull me aside. You said once we were going to be allies. Well allies do not cut the legs out from one another in front of their enemies. Do you understand me, David Augustine Murphy?"

I swallowed, taken aback by Libra's words. This was a side of her I'd not really seen before. Probably because Libra had never felt comfortable enough around anyone to be this assertive before. But one thing was certain. She was right, and I was wrong. As husband and wife, we were going to be one person. And a house divided against itself cannot stand.

"Copy that," I said. "I was wrong to call you out in front of Dumbledore. Will you please forgive me?"

"Yes,"Libra said. Then she flung her arms around me. "Oh God, David, I'm so scared. Do you really think we should go with Dumbledore?"

I squeezed her tight, considering. My initial reaction had been born out of a desire to assert my male dominance and once more prove I could help protect the family, not just because I thought it was a good idea. My pride and desire to put Libra in her place had been the main reason why I had been so wrong to put her down like that. Even if I had been gentler though, she was right. We could not afford to be divided in the face of the enemy, which I had to agree it felt like Dumbledore was.

"Why don't we sit down and talk about this while we pretend to be rational adults," I said.

Libra kissed me then, hard and desperate. To my surprise, I found that despite the fact we'd been arguing only a moment before, I returned it with equal verve. "Yes," Libra whispered. "Yes let's do that."

"I stand by that I do not want to be beholden to Dumbledore," Libra declared once we sat down. Then she hesitated. "I do, however, admit that he may very well represent the best chance of safety for Harry and us."

"I can respect that," I agreed. "I'm still not sure he's not some master manipulator, or really just an old man doing his best. However, the fact remains that unless we have a better alternative, it wouldn't be smart just to turn him down because we're suspicious and we don't like him. He has acted in good faith, so far. Even the blunder with Sirius is understandable, and frankly totally in keeping with what I know of him from the books. But what other choice do we have?"

Libra considered this for a moment. "David, what if we moved to America?"

"Huh." I leaned back, rubbing my chin. "Honestly, I hadn't thought of that. It's not a terrible idea. Though to be honest, I'll be a stranger in a strange land there just as much as here. I was born in the 80s remember, but I'm really a child of the 21st century. I won't really be on my home turf."

"We also have to consider if American wizards would be able to easily recognize Harry," Libra said. "If they can, it wouldn't do us much good to move there, as word would spread. I'm not sure how hard it is to cross the Atlantic for a wizard, but they surely have to have some way of doing it."

"We should ask Dumbledore. See what he thinks of it," I suggested.

"But I wanted to get away from him!" Libra protested. "We could go there and be shot of this whole thing! I've read what's in your little book. Is Harry really all that necessary to the defeat of Tom? And anyway, how much of a threat can he really be now that you've helped get rid of his monster and gotten rid of the servant who resurrected him."

I hesitated. This was a secret I had not shared. Finally, I let out a long breath. "There is a prophecy."

"I know that," Libra said impatiently. "It was in your notes. A child born in July, marked by the Dark Lord with the power to vanquish him with some power Tom doesn't know about, which could be practically anything but you wrote was assumed to be love."

"Right, but there was another part. A hidden part. A part I didn't share, and something else. The prophecy also said that neither could live while the other survives and that one of them WILL die at the hand of the other. This is because of the fragment of Tom's soul in Harry. As I said, Harry is one of Tom's phylacteries. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but I wanted to keep Harry safe. Because if people find out he's what's keeping Tom around, they could just kill him."

Libra put her hands to her mouth in horror. "Oh my God. That's...that's awful."

"Yes," I agreed. "And I have no idea how to get it out. It was something I wanted to deal with later. But I figured since you're his mother now, you need to know too."

"Thank you for telling me," Libra said, shaking her head in shock. "Oh, I'm still a bit miffed you kept it secret, but I can understand. My God. So he has to confront and kill Tom then."

"I think so," I agreed. "And he'll need Dumbledore's help to do it in all likelihood."


	12. Chapter 12

Dumbledore's help. The words echoed in the tiny bedroom. What would the price of that help be? What would the cost of not getting it run? Even for someone who supposedly knew the future, I simply couldn't say.

"We can't tell Dumbledore about the phylactery in Harry," Libra said.

I winced. "I hate to say it, but I don't think us telling him will make much difference. I agree, certainly, but he was the one who figured it out originally. I'm just copying his notes."

"Damn and double damn," Libra swore. "Well then. Maybe...maybe we should go to Dumbledore's safe house."

"Maybe. Or, maybe we do go to the States. At least for a while. Let Harry grow up. Then, when he gets old enough, we come back. Send him to Hogwarts. Maybe we'll even come up with something in the meantime."

Libra slowly nodded. "That does sound like the best course of action. Do you want to tell Dumbledore, or should I?"

I hesitated. "I'll do it. And let's keep our options open. If it turns out it's a terrible idea, we can always ask for a bit of time and reconsider."

"I can live with that."

Together, we walked back to the table, where Harry and Dumbledore were eating bread pudding.

"-and Buttercup was the bestest snake ever. She liked to sit on my shoulder. Sometimes, when I had bad dreams, I'd take her out of her cage and put her in my bed."

"She sounds very brave," Dumbledore said kindly. He looked up at us and smiled. "Ah, I take it you have a decision for me?"

"Not quite," I said as we sat down. "Tell me, how famous is Harry? Is he well known by appearance everywhere, or just in Britain? Europe?"

Dumbledore didn't answer at first. He looked back and forth between Libra and I, and I could see him mentally calculating. Finally, he answered. "Harry is known by sight to all wizards in Great Britain thanks to his scar. The same is true on the continent, where Tom was also active. Many of his most loyal supporters were former allies of Grindelwald and he recruited extensively from Durmstrang. He would not, perhaps, be instantly recognized by everyone, but it would not take long to find him. We do, however, have a safe house in the Netherlands that may do quite nicely."

"What about Stateside?" I asked. "MACUSA and all that."

"Ah." Dumbledore tapped his teacup with his wand, refilling it. He lifted it to his lips and sipped, then calmly set it back down. "How much do you know of the political landscape of magical North America?"

"Not much," I admitted. "Is it true that Newt Salamander brought an extra dimensional suitcase to New York and let out a bunch of critters back in the 20s? With Grindelwald on the police force impersonating someone I think?"

"I believe you refer to the 1926 New York Obscurus Incident," Dumbledore replied. "Yes, Newt _Scamander_ was wrapped up in those affairs."

"Well, they made it seem like MACUSA was kinda hell on wheels for muggles and more than a little prone to kill first, ask questions never," I answered.

"This is still somewhat true, though to a lesser degree now," Dumbledore said. "However, MACUSA, despite the name and their ambitions, does not control the same amount of territory as the muggle country."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I wondered about that. I sort of figured that maybe the native wizards did a bit better for themselves and had their own little countries."

"The history of the North American continent is not one I would care to get into a great deal," Dumbledore said. "It is a deep, complex topic, and one that I would hesitate to delve into at the moment. Suffice to say there are seven magical governments that operate in the same territory as the United States to one degree or another. In the case of MACUSA, many wizards there are likely to recognize Harry. However, their territory does not extend west of the Ohio River. The other nations there have much less interest in the goings on in Britain. I will also say that none of the other nations, save perhaps for the Duchy of Texas, have good relations with MACUSA and you are unlikely to encounter anyone there who would recognize Harry."

"Hmm. What about Hawaii?" I asked.

"Ah. The Kingdom of Hawaii may no longer exist as far as muggles are concerned, but Hawaiian wizards are adamant that they are a free and independent people, though one closely affiliated with several other polynesian nations." Dumbledore tapped his finger on his chin, considering this for a long while. "If you are proposing that you take Harry to Hawaii, that is not a terrible plan. The Hawaiians are famous for welcoming wizards of all ethnic backgrounds, blood statuses, and are even extremely inclusive when it comes to squibs. However, I must beg you to return to Britain when Harry reaches the age of 11. It is paramount that he attend Hogwarts."

"That is something we will have to discuss in the future," I said. "I'm not against the idea, but I'm not sold on it either. My wife, Harry, and I, will need to make the ultimate decision when it comes to that."

"Very well," Dumbledore said, leaning back in his chair. "But again, I must stress that it is vital for Harry to attend Hogwarts. For his sake, and that of everyone else in Britain."

"Again, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I said. "However, I will also say that I want to finish out my contract here, for this year. It would be a grave disservice to this community for us to up and leave. And, that means we'll be here at least until the end of June. Libra, what do you think about that?"

Libra shifted in her seat uncomfortably for a moment, then finally spoke. "I would be alright with us temporarily staying at one of your safe houses. Until the end of term only."

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed. "I think we can all find such an arrangement acceptable. I can smooth your way into Hawaiian wizarding society if you so desire, as I have contacts through the ICW. However, if you wish to simply remain incognito, that is also entirely feasible."

"We'll work out the mechanics of that later," I said. "But I take it there is more you want to talk about. Like the conversation you had with Harry about Buttercup."

"Ah, yes. I have satisfied my curiosity on that point," Dumbledore said. "While some may consider parseltongue a dark power, it is simply a power like any other. How it is used is what determines its morality. No, there are far more pressing questions that I have. Ones that I would like to discuss with you alone, Mr. Murphy."

"Nope," I said, without even having to think about it. "You want to talk to me, Libra and Harry stay. I might be able to be convinced that there are certain topics Harry doesn't need to hear about just yet," this elicited a protest from Harry, but I raised my hand and he quieted down, "but you'd better have a damn good reason for it."

"Sometimes, knowledge becomes more dangerous the more it is known, Mr. Murphy," Dumbledore said quietly. "I would wish to shield your wife and child from such peril. Would not you?"

"More men have died of ignorance than knowledge," I said, meeting Dumbledore's gaze. "And as far as I'm concerned, Libra and I are one person anyway. Whatever you want to talk to me about, you talk to her about."

The look of pure affection Libra gave me made saying that completely worth it. Though that aside, I did believe it. I just had to learn to act like I believed it instead of just saying I did.

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed. "I will however, ask that Harry not listen in to this conversation. It is best that he be given time to be a child. You may decide to share the information with him later, as is your right, but I would ask that you think long and hard about that first."

I looked to Libra, who nodded. "He is only five, David. There are some things he just isn't ready for yet. You know that."

"Alright," I agreed.

"But dad!" Harry protested.

I put my hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, I promise that we will talk about this later, when Mr. Dumbledore is gone. I'll share as much as I can with you. And that one day soon, you'll hear the whole story. But he is right. There are some things we're going to talk about that probably wouldn't do anything but give you nightmares, and other things that you simply don't have the experience to understand. Go play nintendo. You can have an extra hour today."

Harry glared at me, and I could tell he was considering being defiant about this or not. "Fine," he snapped. "But you're being mean."

"Harry James Potter!" Libra barked. "That is no way to speak to your father! No nintendo. Go straight to your room!"

"I don't have to!" Harry wailed. "You're not my real mum anyway!"

I stood up, grabbing Harry firmly by the arm. "Excuse us." I said. "My son and I have something to discuss for a moment."

I dragged Harry back to his room, and shut the door behind us. Harry had started crying before we'd even got out of the kitchen, and was wailing now, shaking uncontrollably as he sobbed. I knelt down and hugged him, rubbing his back until the sobs subsided into sniffles. "Harry, I think you know what you said was wrong. Your mother loves you very much, and what you said was extremely hurtful. We both love you, and are trying to do what's best for you."

"OK," Harry sniffed. "I guess I have to say sorry."

"Yes," I agreed. "And you also know that there are going to be consequences for what you said. No TV, and no Nintendo for three days. You understand why?"

"Yes," Harry whined. "But dad, do I-"

"Do you understand, or do there need to be further consequences?" I demanded.

"But I-"

I walked over to Harry's small desk, and pulled out a sheet of paper. On it, I wrote, "I will use kind words. I will respect my parents." Then I read it aloud to Harry.

Harry sighed. "I understand. How many?"

Ten times," I said, and hated myself for it. I am, in fact, a big huge pushover. Hopefully I never had a daughter, because if Harry could get away with so much I hate to think as to what I'd do when a little girl looked at me with big eyes like that. "Now go apologize to your mother."

Harry walked back to the kitchen, shuffling his feet. Dumbledore had moved to the living room, and was examining the nintendo controler. I was pretty sure he wasn't actually Arthur Weasley in disguise, and had zero interest in it. My estimation of him improved, if only slightly. "Sorry mum," Harry mumbled.

"For?" Libra prompted.

"For being disrespectful and using mean words," Harry said. "I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"

Libra stood up and hugged Harry, kissing him on the top of his head. "I forgive you. And your father?"

"Sorry dad," Harry said, looking up at me. "I was disrespectful. I was wrong, will you forgive me?"

"I forgive you, son," I said. I stepped over and we hugged Harry together. "Your mother and I love you very much, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "Do I have to do the lines?"

"That depends, do you want to do the lines I gave you, or the ones your mother will give you if she finds out how many I gave you?" I asked.

"I'll go do them," Harry agreed quickly. He pulled away and backed toward his room, glancing over his shoulder.

"Get to it," I ordered.

Harry finally complied, reluctantly closing the door to his room.

Libra put her arm around my waist, pressing herself close to me. "I want another one," she whispered in my ear. "More than one."

I started, then looked down at her. "Really?"

"Mhmm," she said, rubbing herself on me just a little. "But we can discuss that later."

Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to say it, but I just about passed out due to lack of blood supply for my brain. If Dumbledore hadn't been there, marriage license or no, I would have thrown Libra to the ground and gotten to work on that kid she wanted. However, after shaking my head, I cleared my throat and carefully sat down to hide my enthusiasm.

"Thanks for the privacy," I said to Dumbledore. "Now, let's get down to the brass tacks."

"It warms my heart to see such a loving family," Dumbledore said as he returned to the table, his eyes twinkling merrily. "Speaking as someone who has been in the business of dealing with, shall we say, spirited children for the past 70 years, I must say that despite your inexperience you already have the makings of most excellent parents."

"Don't butter us up too hard," I said, narrowing my eyes. "I'm on to you, pal."

"It was an honest compliment, Mr. Murphy. You will find I am far less of a schemer than you and many others believe me to be. For good, or ill. Now, my first question. Why are you unaffected by magic? I have seen Sirius' memories. I have talked with Arthur and Molly. This does, to be blunt, throw your entire claim to be from some far off future into doubt. There are many kinds of magically resistant creatures, not a few of which can pass for human so that even the most skillful cannot tell. What kind, pray tell, are you?"

"He's plenty human," Libra informed Dumbledore. "I have personally confirmed it. And do you really think some magical beast could have been beaten black and blue by Sirius?"

"I don't like being called a liar," I informed Dumbledore. "But in the interest of being polite, I'll let that pass. I do, in fact, have a theory about that." I explained to Dumbledore what I had previously shared with Harry and Libra.

Dumbledore seemed actually shocked at this, and slowly nodded. "I must beg your pardon, Mr. Murphy. I had never even considered the possibility that worlds could exist that did not have magic. I am familiar with the idea that realms exist beyond our own, but it has always been supposed that they would have magic the same as ours. More or less perhaps, or even magic that manifests in very different ways, but worlds with magic all the same. After all, how could they exist or have come into being without magic?"

"Actually, I have a question about that," Libra said before I could speak. "What about Jesus of Nazareth? Who was he?"

Dumbledore's bushy eyebrows shot up. "Well, perhaps that is somewhat off topic, but frankly my dear, that is one of the greatest questions in existence. Who, or perhaps more accurately what, was that strange individual from Judea? Was he some sort of wizard? A magical creature masquerading as human? Was he a muggle con artist? Was he, in fact, the son of a god? That I do not know. It is not a question I have given much thought to if I am honest, but it is certainly one that many of the greatest minds in history have spilled a great deal of ink over and spoken a great many words. Even Merlin himself spent much of his career trying to find the answer to that."

"Really?" I asked. "You mean, you don't know?"

"I do not," Dumbledore confirmed. "I have no knowledge on the matter that is unique. In fact, if I am honest, wizards seem to have not much more information that muggles do, save perhaps that we know that magic could explain some of what he did, though certainly not all."

"What do you think about him?" Libra asked, looking at Dumbledore but locking eyes with me while he answered.

"To be frank, I consider him to be an enlightened teacher of morals. I think he was, perhaps, a gifted wizard whose feats were either exaggerated, or done through spells and rituals we have since lost. I am deeply saddened that his followers have so often used his teachings as an excuse to persecute wizardkind, but alas, his was not the first nor the last pure cause to be corrupted."

"But you do think he actually existed?" Libra asked, glancing back to Dumbledore and taking my hand under the table.

Dumbledore shrugged. "Of that there can be little doubt. Oh, I know some wizards will claim he was entirely fictional, as will some muggles. But such a postulation is born not from reason or knowledge, but from hatred and a desire to make those who believe to look foolish. There is simply too much evidence to doubt he was real, or even to doubt that he accomplished many of the so called miracles attributed to him. But really, such a topic is of lesser import than what we have to discuss, Mr. Murphy."

I disagreed, and by the look in Libra's eyes she felt the same way, but we nodded reluctantly. "Alright. I answered your question about where and when I came from, and why that explains my weird reaction to magic. What else?"

"In a word; horcruxes," Dumbledore said.

I shivered, and scooted myself closer to Libra until our chairs were touching. "You got my note, right?"

"I did indeed. It was cryptic, but I guessed it related to two of the things you had mentioned earlier, the horcruxes and Deathly Hallows. I take it that the stone you wrote of is the Resurrection Stone?"

"Yes," I agreed. "However, it is tainted and corrupted by Tom's soul. It's currently part of a horcrux. The other part is the Gaunt family ring."

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Why the warning though? It was somewhat cryptic and vague, but I was able to work it out. However, you did not warn me of any other horcruxes, though I believe now there must be more than one."

"There are," I agreed. "There's the ring, the Diadem of Ravenclaw, the Cup of Hufflepuff, the Amulet of Slytherin, the Diary of Tom Riddle, and one that's up in the air. I'm not certain if he's made Nagini the snake one yet or not."

"I see," Dumbledore said, stroking his beard. "Are those all you know of?"

I met Dumbledore's eyes. "All that I can share for now. It's possible there is one more, but I'll have to search my memory to make sure I'm right."

Dumbledore seemed to consider this for a moment, then nodded. "I see. Tell me all you know of the horcruxes."

"They're made with murder," I explained. "Tom has to kill someone in a ritual of some sort. Then, he has to split his soul, and imbue a chosen container with the fragment. I'm not sure if the very nature as a horcrux makes them almost impossible to destroy, or if he has to do something to them, but there is very little that can harm Tom's. If you've got access to the basilisk corpse, the venom works."

"I do not," Dumbledore stated. "We used roosters, as is only prudent. It was turned to stone, and is largely worthless save as a most excellent display in our Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom."

"Right then. Well, Fiendfyre is the only other sure fire way, pun intended, to get rid of them that I know of. You might be able to figure out some others."

"Fiendfyre is dangerous, but I and a few other capable wizards and witches should be able to harness it for this task," Dumbledore said. "What of their locations?"

"One's easy. The Diadem is in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. Also known as the Room of Many Things, or the Come and Go Room if you talk to the house elves."

This information made Dumbledore go pale. "All this time," he murmured. "All this time and it was right under my nose. I can only pray that it has not worked too much evil."

"It's entirely possible it is what's keeping that curse on your Defense position going," I told him. "I can't confirm that though."

"I have tried many things to rid us of that curse, but it was as though Tom himself was there, enforcing it," Dumbledore said, his tone ice cold. "You have revealed that this is indeed the case. I shall dispose of it at once. Hopefully by the time Harry is ready to attend Hogwarts, I can assure you he will have the same professor his entire time."

"Just as long as it's not Snape," I said.

"We shall discuss Severus and your feelings towards him shortly," Dumbledore said. "What of the others?"

"The Cup is in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault. Good luck with that one, I hear Gringotts makes Fort Knox look like a cardboard castle. Lucius Malfoy has the Diary, it's hidden in some secret chamber in his house. The Locket is somewhere in Sirius' place. His brother swapped it for a fake. The Gaunt ring is, appropriately enough, in the Gaunt shack. But, Dumbledore, you have to listen to me. Do not put on that ring. It's cursed. It killed you, because you were so anxious to see your sister again you put it on before you could realize you'd walked straight into a trap."

Another long silence. Once more, Dumbledore took off his glasses and wiped them on his robe, looking like an old and weary man. His eyes were a watery blue, and it almost looked as though he might begin to weep. He examined his spectacles, then breathed on them and repeated the gesture. I wondered why he did it. Surely he knew some very excellent glasses cleaning spells. The gesture did make him seem a lot more human though.

"It is not often, Mr. Murphy, that a man is so bluntly told of his death," Dumbledore said in a ragged voice after replacing his glasses. "Even rarer, perhaps, is the man who can see so clearly into another's soul. Please. I have wanted to ask you since first you came professing to have hidden knowledge of the future. Ariane, what do you know of her?"

"I only know that you blame yourself for her death," I said. "And that you sought the Stone and the two other Hallows to resurrect her. I'm telling you now, it doesn't work. You're not the master of the Cloak. Plus, bringing the dead back to life is something men are not meant to do. Only God can do that. As for the wand, well, you know the old saying. He who lives by the sword..."

"There is much wisdom in what you say," Dumbledore whispered. "And I confess, you have seen right into my heart." He bowed his head, and breathed out a heavy sigh that was halfway to a sob. "Very well. I must trust your advice in this matter. It has been infallible so far."

Libra, throughout this last exchange, had been studying Dumbledore closely, a frown growing larger on her lips. Her head tilted to one side as she examined the old wizard, and I realized that she must be seeing, for the first time, the very real weakness of a man who had been her very own personal demon for a long time. If Dumbledore was only a mortal, what then of her much hated and feared brother?

"And now to the last question of the day. Why do you possess such venom for Severus Snape?" Dumbledore demanded

"Because his redemptive arch was the most hackneyed, cliche ridden, idiotic mess I have ever read in my entire life," I declared. "No, don't interrupt me yet. I am perfectly willing to admit that I have a huge grudge against the man. The first is this: he abuses his position and power to torment and bully children who are given into his care to nurture. I don't know if it's because he's the worst teacher on earth, or because he's just a bitter asshole who gets off on it, or because he suffers some misguided delusion that it's his obligation because the supposed act makes him a better spy. Personally, I think it's all three. Whatever the cause he is a disgrace to teachers everywhere and that alone earns him a place on my permanent naughty list."

"Next," I continued, ticking off the points on my finger, "what he thinks is love is nothing more than a one sided unhealthy obsession that plays into the love redeems trope and is 100% pure unleaded bullcrap. He never loved Lily Evans. He loved the idea of Lily Evans, especially the idea of HAVING Lily Evans. Of possessing her. Of using her for his own self gratification. If I ever, even once, treat my own wife like Snape treated Lily, I hope she slaps me upside the head until she knocks some sense into me."

"Don't worry love, I will," Libra said, giving me a wicked grin. Yipes. Maybe I should be careful what I wish for.

"And who could forget that he is perhaps the most vindictive asshole around. The man was bullied as a kid. Hey, I get it. I got knocked around a bit and teased for being fat and farting due to lactose intolerance. Life sucks, then you grow up. But Snape never freaking grew up! He stayed the same juvenile punk his entire life, never willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, he should forgive the actions of people who were punk kids at the time. That is also, by the way, a bone I have to pick with Mr. Black. It's amazing how similar the two idiots are. But we're talking about Snape, and the man was happy enough to have someone's freaking SOUL sucked out just to repay an old grudge."

"I see," Dumbledore said once my rant wound down. "Are there any further grievances you like to air against Severus?"

"He's ugly, smells funny, and needs to learn what good hygiene is," I snapped. "That last bit might be petty, but come on man! You're supposed to be an example to these kids! Show them what good grooming looks like!"

"Are you quite finished?" Dumbledore demanded, and I realized that there was more than a bit of heat in his tone now.

"Yes," I said. "All that aside, I guess I'm grateful to that scum sucking bottom feeder though. After all, he did save Harry's life once or twice."

"Ah, so you can, in fact, recognize the redeeming qualities of a man whom I will remind you, you have never actually met," Dumbledore said, his tone steely as his eyes bored into me.

I confess, I wimped out. I slouched in my seat a bit. "Okay, yeah. Maybe I'm jumping the gun on the Snape issue a tad. But you tell me he isn't the worst damn teacher at your school. Well, except Umbridge. But she's basically Satan in satin." I'm not apologizing for that pun. I'm actually very proud of it.

Dumbledore shook his head. "Umbridge? I know an Umbridge. An odious woman to be sure, and one I would not hire unless she were forced upon me."

"Well congratulations. You're innocent of that. She's Minister Fudge's fault," I told him. "Gilderoy Lockhart, on the other hand, is all on you."

"Gilderoy Lockhart?" Dumbledore asked, baffled. "The novelist?"

"The fraud," I answered. "He also tries to leave a little girl to die and obliviate Harry. Needless to say, if I ever see him, I'm going to have a little contest with myself to see if maybe someone else can't win Witch Weekly's Best Smile competition if he's missing some teeth."

"You are getting off topic, and I believe you are doing so deliberately," Dumbledore informed me. "Snape. Your hatred for him, Mr. Murphy, is quite frankly very concerning. And it makes me question if you are after all the best man to take care of Harry, as he will need Severus' aide in the future, and by extension so will you."

"Excuse me, but are you threatening us?" Libra demanded.

"No, I am not," Dumbledore answered. "But if you insist on poisoning Harry's mind against those who are key to his future, that will only imperil him. In all other matters you seem to be an honest, if very strange, man Mr. Murphy. Why this hatred of Severus?"

"I'm pretty sure I answered that question," I replied. "Exhaustively. Plus I don't think I'll have to make Harry thinking anything about Snape. He's a smart kid. He hated Snape plenty without anyone's help in the books."

"You have outlined Severus' flaws," Dumbledore said, his tone that of a teacher who has just about had enough of your shenanigans. I know, because I use it all the time. "But you have not explained why you lack such venom for others. I could see a dislike for Sirius Black when you spoke of him in recent conversations, and even a mistrust of myself. But you did not possess nearly the same venom, and quite frankly, your explanation does not justify it. Especially since Snape has actually committed few, if any, of the crimes you accuse him of. It seems to me, Mr. Murphy, that you have become rather full of your own self righteous indignation and have allowed it to poison you. You have created in your mind an effigy, which you seem content to burn without consideration to the harm you are causing in doing so."

Ow. That, did in fact, hurt. I grunted, and nodded. "OK. I get your point. I will try to be more...forgiving...when it comes to Severus Snape. When I do meet him, I shall attempt to act with the grace and forbearance I would have others show me."

"See that you do so," Dumbledore said in a tone that indicated he would be deeply disappointed me if I did not. "Because he is the one who will be helping you move to your safe house."


	13. Chapter 13

That particular bit of information caused me to gape in shock, and Libra to stand up and start yelling.

"How dare you!? If even half of what David has said about Snape is even remotely true, I do not want a man like that within a thousand yards of my son!"

"Severus Snape is one of the most accomplished wizards of our age," Dumbledore said evenly. "He is not, despite what your fiance may claim, an abuser of children. He is a strict, even harsh, teacher, but he is a very accomplished potions master, the best one alive in Britain and one of the top four worldwide. I remind you, Miss Macnair, that you have not in fact met the man. It would behoove you to withhold your judgement until you have done so."

Libra glanced at me, and I put my hand on hers. "I don't like him either," I admitted. "But, yeah, I probably jumped the gun on the hate train. Maybe we should at least meet the guy before we decide to crucify him."

"Alright," Libra said. "I apologize. For both of us. We will give Snape a chance. However, I want to know first why someone who was a friend of my brother and a known Death Eater is suddenly fine to be around Harry."

"Severus betrayed Tom out of love," Dumbledore replied. "And he has long been a spy in our camp. Really, in many ways, he has been instrumental in the campaign against Tom for years."

I snorted at that, but when Dumbledore didn't recant, I shrugged. "Alright, fine. So how do we go about moving?"

"With your permission, I will invite Severus in and make the introductions," Dumbledore said. "You may wish to retrieve Harry from his room. He should meet the man who will in so many ways be responsible for his future."

"Oh I am just gonna love this," I muttered as Libra and I went to go get Harry. We opened the door, and Harry looked up from his legos. He walked over to his desk, grabbed a neat pile of papers, and handed them to me.

"I did it," Harry said, sounding a bit disgruntled. "Do I get to come out now?"

I looked over the papers, counting the number of lines as Libra did the same.

"Ten?" she mouthed at me, looking disapproving. "You let him off easy."

I grinned and shrugged. "I also said no screen time for three days?"

"Better," Libra sniffed.

"Come on Harry. It's time for you to meet a future teacher of yours," I told him. "One that's going to teach you potions."

"Really?" Harry said, bouncing up and down. "Does that mean you're not going to keep a bunch of secrets from me?"

"Only the ones we have to," I said. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Severus Snape did not, in fact, look like Alan Rickman. He honestly looked like someone's idea of an evil vizier. An ugly, hook nosed evil vizier complete with a greasy goatee and lanky black hair. His dark, black eyes seemed to glow with an inner malevolence. I mean, seriously, this guy just screamed evil. And he was standing just outside of our door, dressed in a cheap grey business suit that hung on his boney frame.

Harry wilted behind Libra and me as we approached, taking hold of both of our hands as he hid behind our legs.

Dumbledore coughed into his hand, and I stepped forward, holding out my right hand. "Hi. David Murphy. Nice to meet you."

Snape looked at my hand and sneered, but with a look from Dumbledore he took my hand and shook it. As I suspected, he had a handshake like a dead fish. "Severus Snape. Though I suppose you already knew that."

I dropped Snape's hand and resisted the urge to wipe my palm on my pants. "This is my fiance, Libra Macnair, and our son, Harry Potter. He is adopted, but we think of him as our own."

Dumbledore peered at Snape over his spectacles, and Snape rolled his eyes. He extended his hand to Libra, who took it. "A pleasure, I am sure," Snape said in a tone that made it clear that it was anything but.

"Hello," Libra said, her smile plastered on and just as fake as a Barbie's. She did wipe her palm on her skirt, though she managed not to grimace. Snape just sneered even more.

Wow. Why I had thought I wouldn't like this guy, I just do not know.

Snape turned his eyes on Harry, and for just a moment, they warmed and softened. Something that may even have been a smile twitched on his lips. "You have your mother's eyes," Snape said, gazing down at Harry.

"You smell funny," Harry said, wrinkling his nose at Snape's extended hand.

"Harry," Libra and I said at the same time, but Snape had already withdrawn his hand. To be fair to the kid, the man did smell like someone had spilled their chemistry lab on him. Their failed chemistry lab.

"Ah. But your personality is all that of your father, I see." He eyed me as he said this. "And I see that the new model seems to be in much a similar vein as the first. Congratulations."

I reminded myself that it was still illegal to kill people, and took a deep breath. "Well, Mr. Snape, it seems you're going to help us find a safe place to stay for a while."

"Indeed," Snape said. "I know of just such a location. It is not far from here, located in Shalford. I have been informed that you are, for some unknown reason, unable to portkey there."

"I get motion sickness," I said evenly. "Can't stand the things."

"How droll," Snape said. He turned on his heel. "Come with me. I trust you have an automobile? It is a rather long walk."

Libra drove, as she insisted she always did whenever we went anywhere. I, for one, was happy to let her do it, as I still had a hard time with driving on the left. Especially when her copilot was one Severus Snape. Dumbledore left, stating he had pressing matters elsewhere. I couldn't blame him, I had just told him that his school was home to a very evil artifact.

The drive was mercifully short, for though Snape's directions were given in a rather acidic tone, he surprisingly seemed to understand how the roadways worked and they were pretty good. We ended up at a small house on the outskirts of the village, hidden from view by a copse of trees.

"There's nothing here," Libra protested as we arrived. "That drive doesn't even look passable, it's all overgrown."

"It's just ahead and to your left," I said, leaning forward and pointing. "Not that goat path, that drive looks clear enough. Look, you can just see the house."

Snape frowned at me, giving me an odd look. "You mean to tell me you can see the house, Mr. Murphy? I thought you were a muggle. It should not be visible to one such as you."

"Huh? No, I can see it easy enough," I replied.

"David I can see the goat path, and the drive. It's got enormous rocks, we'll never make it," Libra declared. "Oh, I just forgot, I think I left the oven on. We need to turn around and go back right away."

Snape continued to eye me suspiciously, but reached out with his wand and tapped Libra on the forehead. "And now?"

Libra blinked, then shook her head. "Oh. Well, I can see it plain enough now." She glared at Snape. "Hidden with Notice-Me-Not charms and a few muggle repellers was it? Couldn't you have fixed me up sooner?"

"Clearly you can see it fine now," Snape said silkily. "Come, just park in the drive. I'll have to let you in as well."

The cottage was nice enough, small with a thatched roof and large windows that were noticeably thicker at the bottoms than the tops. I walked up and reached for the door, ready to try and open it.

"You can't open it," Snape declared. "Let me."

I stepped back, folding my arms over my chest. "Be my guest."

"You shouldn't even have been able to get this close," Snape said, glaring at me. I glanced around and noticed that Harry and Libra were both back at the car, looking dazed and lost. "How do you keep doing that?" Snape used his wand to perform a complex series of raps on the door, muttering a spell. The door clicked and swung open, and Libra and Harry both suddenly focused on us.

"Daddy I feel weird," Harry complained.

"That is the wards doing their job," Snape said. "Quickly, inside. I have lowered them for now. You must all enter and touch the mantle while I perform a spell to key you into them. It will even allow you past the anti muggle defenses."

We all stepped inside and awkwardly laid our hands on the old brick fireplace. Surprisingly enough, the interior was very clean, and free of dust. It was as though the place was regularly cleaned, though I would have guessed no one had been inside for ages. Well, no one human.

Snape began to chant, waving his wand about. A few second in though, he stopped, growling something under his breath.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No," he snapped.

"Oh. Ok then," I said amiably. I winked at Libra, who giggled. Snape glared at us, which prompted Harry to stick his tongue out. I lightly rapped him on the head with my knuckles. "Be nice. Mr. Snape is helping us."

"He isn't being very nice about it," Harry complained.

"Perhaps helping you isn't particularly pleasant," Snape snapped, and began to repeat his chant. He paused at the same place, then started over again.

"Seriously bud, something wrong?" I asked.

"For your information," Snape growled. "The wards are not registering three new signatures. One of you seems to be somehow blocking the spell."

I stepped away from the mantle. "Why don't you try it with just the two of them."

Snape rolled his eyes at me. "Because then, Mr. Murphy, I will have to repeat the charm."

"Well you've already given it three tries. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just do it two more."

Snape glared at me, but started over once more. He got further this time, finishing with a swish of his wand. "There. The woman and Harry are keyed in. Now you."

"I do have a name," Libra remarked. "I believe you know it."

"Yes, I do," Snape growled. "Now, Mr. Murphy, if you don't mind. I have other matters that require my attention."

"Sure," I said, stepping over to the mantle.

Libra leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Maybe let him try a few more times. I think he's earned it."

I gave her an innocent look. "Surely the great and powerful Severus Snape can key in a simple muggle like me," I declared.

Snape gave me a look that should have left me foaming at the mouth from the venom, but went through the spell. He got no further than the first three times. He tried again and again, growing increasingly frustrated.

"What is wrong with you, you infernal man?!" Snape shouted after about the seventh or eighth time.

"Nothing's wrong with my dad," Harry declared. "He's got superpowers. Magic doesn't work on him."

"What?" Snape snapped. "That's impossible. No human is immune to magic completely, not even with a Merlin's Bane Elixir, which I assure you was not administered, as I am the only one in the country capable of brewing such a mixture."

"Yeah, forgot to mention that," I said. "We think I might be immune to most forms of magic."

Snape glared at me. "Levicorpus," he spat.

I immediately fell over as my pant legs ripped. I smacked my jaw on the wooden floor and groaned. Above me, the bits of fabric that had been over my ankles hung in the air. It looked like my immunity only extended to my skin: while my ankles hadn't been pulled, my pants had.

Libra was across the room in a flash, trying to attack Snape. However, he pushed her away with a lazy gesture, which summoned a gust of wind. Harry let out a howl and rushed Snape as well, beating tiny fists on Snape's legs. Snape, however, ignored this, as Harry wasn't doing much harm.

"You jerk," I said, spitting to the side as I stood. A bit of blood came out from where I had bit the inside of my mouth. "What was that for?"

"It appears as though you are correct," Snape stated, putting a hand on Harry's head and pushing Harry away so that his fists flailed wildly in the air. "Now, control your fosterling, before I am forced to take action."

I picked Harry up, holding him tight. Harry panted and glared at Snape, then turned and looked at me, concerned. "Are you OK daddy?"

"I'm fine," I said, wiping my lips with the back of my wrist. I looked to Libra. "You OK, or do I need to murder this son of a bitch?"

"Only my pride was injured," Libra hissed, glaring at Snape. "But I must confess, David. I think you were far too generous in your description of this man. He's even more vile than I thought."

Snape curled his lip. "I am uninterested in the opinions of uneducated squibs. Now, my task here is done. Your things shall arrive shortly."

"What?" I demanded, but Snape didn't answer, only snapping his fingers.

"Nipsy, take care of them. I have other places to be." He raised his wand, and with a crack, vanished.

In Snape's place, a very odd creature appeared. From the bat like ears, long nose, huge eyes, short stature, and tea towel toga, I gathered it was a house elf.

"Hello nice masters and mistress," the creature said in a voice that would have given Alvin a run for his money. "I's is Nipsy. Would you's be liking yous things now?"

"Um," I looked to Libra, who seemed to accept the appearance of the magical creature with aplomb. For my part, I was having a hard time deciding how I should react to seeing my first magical creature. It just looked so...real. Clearly unnatural, but even more real than the giant smurfs from Avatar.

"Yes, Nipsy," Libra said in a somewhat imperious tone. "Have you been assigned to serve us?"

"Oh yes," Nipsy agreed, dry washing its hands. For the life of me, I couldn't tell what sex it was. Did house elves have a sex? "Nipsy is serving nice masters and mistress for as long as they be staying heres. Nipsy is very lucky: Nipsy is a good elf to be getting so much extra work. You will see, you will like Nipsy. Nipsy is good elf, very hard working, very good."

"Are you really an elf?" Harry gasped, leaning out of my arms to stare at the creature. "You look kinda funny."

"Harry, be nice," I ordered as I set him down.

Nipsy chuckled, and Libra shrugged. "He's a house elf, David. You can do whatever you want to him, so long as you don't kill him or give him clothes."

At the mention of clothes, Nispy grabbed his ears and looked horror struck. "Oh! Nipsy is good elf, Nipsy is not wanting clothes!"

Harry walked over, looking to Libra. "Can I touch him?"

"Of course, master can touch Nipsy however he wants," Nipsy declared. "Nipsy is a nice elf, no need for clothes."

Harry held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Nipsy put a hand to his chest, and sighed, the other gingerly taking Harry's. "Oh, master is too kind, treating Nipsy like Nipsy is a wizard. Nipsy is just an elf, great master."

"I thought elves were bigger," Harry said, poking Nipsy's ears which made them twitch. "And taller. And cooler. Like, with bows and swords and stuff."

"Sadly, house elves just aren't as awesome as Legolas," I informed Harry. I'd told him the story of Lord of the Rings as a bedtime story, though I had significantly edited and embellished it for five year old listening content.

"Nipsy is just a house elf, master. But a very good elf. Nipsy will bring all your things over, very nicely. And cook, and clean, and do all the work master sees fit to give Nipsy."

"Go," Libra said, waving her hand dismissively. "Be swift, be silent, and let us know when you have finished your task, elf."

"Yes mistress, at once mistress," Nipsy said, bowing and vanishing with a pop.

We explored the cottage, which was already fully furnished. There were two bedrooms and a study, one with a small child sized bed, the other with a large queen size. The kitchen had a wood burning stove and a stack of wood, along with a worn but sturdy wooden table. There were rocking chairs around the fire with thick padded seats, and the study had an empty bookshelf and a desk, along with a large easy chair.

Outside, the trees were mostly oak and elm with one solitary pine, and mostly hid the road from view, even though it was only about 50 feet away. Behind the house was an open meadow about half an acre in size, bordered by a row of tree and a fence.

"Not a bad spot," I mused. "Nice enough place."

"Yes," Libra said. Then she wrinkled her nose. "But it hasn't a single electric outlet. It seems as though Harry isn't the only one banned from the telly."

I stared at Libra in shock, then I burst out laughing. "Friggin' wizards," I chuckled. "Stuck in the damn 19th century."

Harry for his part was happy enough to run about the field, and we played chase and catch for an hour or so until stomachs began to growl as the sun got low in the sky. When we returned to cottage, we found our possessions neatly put away in all the empty shelves and spaces. The TV had a vase on top of it along with a doily, and the nintendo was sitting on the table with letters stuck in the slot at the top.

"Well, I suppose I should be happy I didn't have to move any of it," I mused.

"Nispy," Libra said, "Show yourself."

"Why, he's right there," I said, pointing to the corner where Nipsy was standing quietly.

Nispy jerked at the comment. "Master is very wise," Nipsy said, bowing and dry washing his hands again. "Nipsy apologizes if he is disturbing master."

The servile nature of the little creature was starting to grate on me. Didn't the thing have a backbone?

"My fiance is a very great man," Libra said, sticking her nose in the air. "Do not trouble yourself, elf. His magics are greater than you can know. You have done well. As a reward, you may cook us breakfast in the morning, and eat what you desire from the icebox. I would enjoy currant scones with eggs and coffee."

"Thank you mistress!" Nipsy said excitedly, bowing.

"Dismissed," Libra said, flicking her fingers at the elf. "If you have duties at Hogwarts, you may attend to them. Say nothing of us or our presence here to anyone, though you may tell the other elves of how hard you worked and how wonderful we are."

"Nipsy is very grateful, mistress is too kind," the elf cooed, looking at Libra with the sort of worshipful look I thought only dogs and men looking at breasts could achieve. Then he vanished with a pop.

Libra grinned, nodding to herself. "I shall like having a house elf again. They are such useful creatures."

"Don't seem natural to me," I muttered. Then I paused, and eyed Libra. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her skin slightly dusty and sweaty, and her shirt stuck to her body showing her womanly curves very nicely. I made a decision. "You know, I think we should get hitched."

Libra frowned at me. "I thought we already were."

I pulled the golden ring out of my pocket that I'd been carrying around the last couple of weeks. "No, I mean like now. You look super sexy, and I just can't wait no more."

Libra's eyes went wide, then she blushed, which made me blush. She coughed, looking down, then looked up at me coyly. "But it's a Sunday evening. How would we manage that?"

"Vicar Red said he owes me a favor for getting Fred to join his AA group," I said. "I think it's time to cash in my chips."

"Well let's get going then," Libra declared, grabbing me by the arm. "I've waited long enough for this."

We drove to the nearest petrol station and gave the Vicar a ring. Man, life without cell phones is super inconvenient.

"You mean now?" Vicar Red demanded over the line. "Isn't this a little hasty?"

I glanced over at Libra, who was at another pay phone talking to the Davers. There was slight breeze to ruffle her skirt, and I could see all of her long legs. "Vicar, if we don't do it now, I'm afraid I'm about to commit a grievous sin. Besides, we just survived a near death experience. Shared trauma and all that. Plus, she's been living with me for two and a half months now and my balls are about to explode."

"You mean you haven't-" the Vicar cut himself off and started laughing. "My boy, I don't know if I believe that. I've seen the way you look at that young woman. I was quite worried she was a Delilah leading you down the path of temptation until she accepted your proposal."

"God's honest truth sir. We did get to second base though."

Vicar Red's sigh was so heavy I could practically feel it over the phone. "I've known you long enough not to ask what you mean by that, David. Very well. But you'll need a witness and a marriage license."

"We'll do the license tomorrow," I assured him. "Libra's on the phone with the Davers now to act as witnesses. I'll call Cathrine after I get off the phone with you, she'd kill me if didn't let her know. Or worse, fire me."

"Very well. I'll meet you at the parish."

"Don't bother dressin' fancy or nothin'," I said. "We're just in plain clothes ourselves."

"Of course you are. Well, if it's all the same to you, I'll put on my cassock anyway. It wouldn't feel right otherwise."

Fred, Mary, and Olivia met us at the parish twenty minutes later. They were all dressed up in their Sunday best; a starched white shirt and black slacks for Fred, a long gown for Mary, and a cute little dress for Olivia, who looked very uncomfortable. She normally wore a shirt and shorts or pants. I'd had to get an exemption for her in the dress code to wear a boys version. Me, a progressive feminist. Who would have thunk it.

In contrast, I was dressed a plain old button down shirt and khakis, while Libra had on a polka dot sundress. Harry was actually wearing his school uniform, which I am embarrassed to says was his nicest pair of clean clothes. Neither Libra or I had much of an eye for fashion.

Vicar Red was, as always, dressed in his black cassock. I gave him a really stupid grin as he opened the door for us, and he smiled and shook his head. "I owe you one," I told him.

"Anything to help a man avoid the pitfalls of the devil," the vicar said, then winked at me.

His wife was inside, and she bustled over to Libra and handed her a bouquet. Where she had got it I had no idea, we'd given them barely any warning at all. Maybe the wives of vicars are required to have emergency bouquet for prospective brides.

"You're a lucky man, Dave," Fred informed me. "She's a right fit bird that one."

"Yeah," I agreed, unable to take my eyes off of Libra. She really was beautiful, and soon, she would actually be mine, and I hers.

Catherine and her husband showed up about ten minutes later.

"Mr. Murphy, you are one very lucky man," she berated me as she bustled into the church. "We were having a quiet evening at home, why, if we'd been out, I don't know what I would have done."

She hurried up to me and kissed me on the cheek, then straightened my shirt and brushed some imaginary dust off. "This is all very sudden, but I know you two have already been through so much. It reminds me a bit of when Dick and I were married. He was going to Normandy in only a week, though we didn't know it at the time, and well, it just seemed like the proper thing to do."

Dick nodded to me, and I nodded back. "Good to meet you at last sir."

He stepped up and extended his hand. "Cathy's told me a lot about you, Mr. Murphy. You seem like a rather decent sort, for a yank."

"She's told me a lot about you, sir. You seem a rather decent sort, for a limey."

Dick chuckled and slapped me on the back. "I heard about what happened. Sad, that, man breaking into your home. Some people will tell you that you've got to wait for things to be done right and proper like, but honestly that's a load of nonsense. We got married much like this, in a little chapel in Cornwall. Lots of folks were doing it that way back then. Frankly, I think it saves a great deal of time and fuss. Would have saved me about £7000 if our daughter had done it the same way. Enough for a nice car, that."

We all moved to the front, Libra and I grinning like idiots at one another. The Vicar cleared his throat, but Libra gasped and rushed forward. She whispered into Red's ear for a moment.

"What? Are you sure?" He demanded, looking at her incredulously.

She nodded. "It's his favorite. And really, think about it. It's only appropriate."

"Well, I suppose this whole thing couldn't get any less odd," Red agreed. He nodded. "Very well."

Libra hurried back to my side, giggling and covering her face with her bouquet. What had she done?

The vicar cleared his throat again, looked heavenward, muttered a short prayer, then said; "Mawage is what bwings us togevuh tooday."

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing and had to bend over and clutch my knees. Once I got control of myself, I wiped my eyes and managed to stand back up.

"Yes, quite," Vicar Red said. "Well, we are gathered here today to join these two young people together in holy matrimony."

I didn't really listen as the Vicar ran through the marriage ceremony. He was an old hand at it, and obviously knew the whole thing by heart. It was a good thing he had me and Libra repeat the vows after him, because I would have totally spaced it.

Finally, he cleared his throat. "Have you," he said to Harry. "The wings?"

Harry grinned for ear to ear, and held up his hand, in which he held our wedding bands.

"Well, best give them to them," the vicar said. "They're practically vibrating at this point."

Good old Red. His sermons might have been a bit cookie cutter for me, but he did have a nice sense of humor.

Harry gave us the rings, and we slipped them onto each others fingers.

"With this ring, I wed thee," I whispered as I slid it onto Libra's finger, up against her engagement ring.

"And so, the two become one," Vicar Red declared. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride. Please do wait before you start in on the rest."

Libra and I embraced and kissed, and for a moment, the world stood still, with just the two of us in it. Then everyone crowded around us, slapping our backs and congratulating us. Libra was crying, and everyone politely pretended that I was not. After a few minutes, Fred walked over and took Harry from my arms.

"Alright bucko, time to give these two a bit of time to themselves I think."

"But I want to go with them too," Harry protested. "They're married now right? That means we're a real family."

Fred chuckled. "I don't think you want that me lad. They'll be a lot of kissing tonight, and worse."

"Ew," Harry said, wrinkling his nose. "Dad, mum, can I stay over at Olivia's again?"

"That sounds like a good idea kiddo," I agreed, not taking my eyes off of Libra. "We might be a bit distracted tonight."

I'm a bit shocked Libra didn't get a ticket on the way home, for either speeding or distracted driving. Still, we got back to the cottage in one piece.

"Just a moment," I said as we came up to the door. I scooped up Libra in my arms, and she let out a shriek.

"David, your back!"

"Eh, the doc says it's fine," I assured her. Though I did wince a bit with her full weight. Still, I managed to pull the door open, and deposit her inside. We kissed again, and the next thing I knew, we were in the bedroom. The clothes came off in a heartbeat, and I beheld Libra in all her glory. Like Adam before me, I had only one thing to say. "Woah, man."

As it turns out, doubles are fun, triples are great, but nothing beats a homer. I think I even managed to teach Libra a bit about baseball in the process.


	14. Chapter 14

Getting a marriage license, as it turned out, was not quite as simple as our naive minds had thought it would be. Turns out, when someone moves into the country and gets married within a year, that makes certain immigration officials a mite suspicious as to your motivations for getting married. The Holidays were well over with by the time we got the judge and the immigration officer to recognize the union.

"Does it bother you we're not technically married?" Libra had asked me after our first trip to the courthouse had resulted in rejection.

I made a rude noise. "Personally, I think that the State should have little to nothing to do with marriage. Marriage is a holy sacrament ordained by God, not by the queen or some judge. If we've been married in the eyes of God, then that's what counts. It's Man's job to keep up with that."

"That's a relief," Libra sighed. "I was afraid you would develop some sort of complex. I can never tell with you."

"I think I have developed a bit of a complex," I informed her. "Previously I thought I could live without getting laid. However, I'm starting to think I was wrong about that."

"You would go from complete abstinence from insatiable at the drop of a pin," Libra said, shaking her head as we got into the car.

"Are you complaining?" I asked.

"No. Let's swing by the cottage before we go pick up Harry. I'd like to study this complex of yours."

Our honeymoon was very nice, even if I did slightly begrudge having to share it with Harry. We had a whole week off of school before the end of the holidays, and Libra was still on leave as well thanks to her supposed lingering injuries. Despite the cottages complete lack of modern amenities, Libra and I found new and interesting ways to occupy ourselves. They were, I admit, somewhat awkward and haphazard, mostly due to the fact that neither of us had a clue as to what we were doing. Still, we managed to figure it out, and somehow that made it all the more interesting.

Of course, we still had a son to take care of, though Nipsy actually did a pretty good job of keeping Harry entertained. The elf made a sous chef look like a cook at a Waffle House, and also kept the cottage in such spotless condition I don't think I could have found any dust if I'd done a scan with a microscope.

Harry found the elf fascinating, and enjoyed ordering him about. I wanted to immediately set limits on what Harry could and could not have the elf do for him. I personally thought having the elf brush Harry's teeth for him was way too far, but Libra seemed to think that having the elf on us hand and foot was natural.

"It's what they're for, David. They have no other purpose in life except to serve our every want and need," Libra told me. "They even start to get depressed if you don't give them enough work."

"But it just seems so...wrong. Like slavery or something," I protested. Which was odd, because I remember thinking that Hermione in the books was a bit wacko for wanting to free the house elves, but now that I had one about, it seemed so exploitative.

"It's not slavery," Libra sniffed. "Ask Nipsy if he wants pay, or even to be freed. You'll give him a panic attack."

"Hey, Nipsy," I called. "Do you want to be paid for what you do?"

"Great master is very kind," the elf said from the kitchen where he and Harry were making a batch of playdough. "But all Nipsy is wanting is work, and to be able to take some of masters food he isn't wanting."

"But isn't there, you know, something else you want? Like a new towel or a book or some special treat?" I demanded.

"Oh no master, all house elves is wanting is to serve," Nipsy said. "Mistress is very wise, master should be listening to her."

"Hmmm," I said, leaning back and folding my arms. I frowned and glanced at Libra. "So, where do they come from?"

"Where do what come from?" Libra asked, looking up from her crossword in the morning paper.

"House elves. Are the constructs of some sort? Or were they warped and twisted by terrible arcane powers into their current form?"

"You know, I haven't a clue. I've never even wondered about it. You could try asking Nipsy."

"Hey, Nipsy, where do you come from?"

"From Hogwarts, master sir."

"Right, I got that, but I mean, where do elves come from originally?"

Nipsy frowned and scratched at his ear, obviously confused by the question. "Nipsy's family is always coming from Hogwarts, master. For ages and ages and ages; Nispy is a good elf from a family of good elves. Wes have been serving at Hogwarts forevers."

"Right, but how did elves come into being? Who created you?" I asked.

"Why, I thought master would know this. He and mistress seem to be very busy trying to make a new master or mistress of their own. Nipsy's parents did it much the same way."

Libra snorted and started laughing.

"Right. Thanks Nipsy," I said. I glared at Libra. "Hey, don't you want to know? I mean, you've got this servile race that lives in people's homes and does everything for them. How do we know they're not demons or something waiting to rise up and overthrow the human race."

"David, that's nonsense. I've never even heard of an elf deliberately hurting a human, even when ordered to. Why, my father used to tell his friends this story about the time when his grandfather had ordered one of his elves to kill a muggle they'd found on the property. The silly elf ended up hiding him in the barn and…" Libra trailed off, her expression going from jovial to horror struck.

"Oh God, that story doesn't seem even half as amusing now," she whispered.

"What happened to them? The elf and the muggle?" I asked gently.

"They died," Libra said, hanging her head in shame. "The elf put the poor man in the barn. He ended up freezing to death, as it was winter time. The house elf was so distraught that he had inadvertently killed a human being that he locked himself in the oven and baked himself to death. My father said he smelled delicious; he'd basted himself in gravy and herbs first so he could render his masters one last service."

"That's horrific," I gasped. "They're sentient! Surely they have some sort of rights?"

"I don't know," Libra admitted. "We always treated our elves like animals. My brother was especially cruel to them; he even killed one once in a fit of pique. The only consequence was he got his broom sold off to pay for a new one. I was a bit vindictive at times as well. I remember getting frustrated with one of our elves and ordering her to iron her hands. I ended up getting a beating for that, because she wasn't fit to serve properly for a week."

"Let's maybe be a bit kinder to Nispy, yeah? And really, Harry needs to do chores too. We're not going to have Nipsy for long, and he doesn't need to get spoiled."

Libra sighed and relented. "Very well, I suppose you're right. I just…"

"I get it," I said, taking her hand. "It makes you feel like you're back in the good old days. Hey, who knows. Harry got an elf in the books at some point. Maybe he can get you one for your birthday someday."

In addition to all this of course, we had to start making plans to move to Hawaii. Combined, Libra and I had a bit over £5000 when we sold off my car, and we could probably get about £700 for Libra's old beater. I'd not managed to save up any money, in fact having spent more than I'd made in the last year what with purchasing all new stuff for myself and Harry, along with admittedly pricey gifts for Libra for Christmas. Libra, on the other hand, was a lifelong spendthrift who despite her low wages as a social worker had put by over £2000 even with having put herself through school.

"Never knew I would marry a woman for her money," I teased.

Libra rolled her eyes at me. "It's a decent amount, but you said living in Hawaii is very expensive."

"That is true," I admitted. "And sadly it hasn't been long enough to exploit any sort of knowledge for the future. There is a way we could get a lot of money fast butttt…."

"Oh?" Libra asked. "What is it?"

"Well, Harry's like a millionaire or something," I said. "He's got basically ton of gold in his Gringotts vault."

"I do?" Harry asked, peeking his head in from his room. "Can I use it to buy the lego monorail?"

"I'd rather you not squander your inheritance on legos kid," I said.

"Please?" Harry begged. "You and mum can have some too."

"Let's table that for now," I told Harry. "I'd rather we not dip into your funds unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Is there a Gringotts in Hawaii?" Libra wondered. "I never really thought about that."

"I somehow doubt they've got goblins in Hawaii," I told her. "Maybe kakamora and menehune. Though I honestly don't know."

Dumbledore, on the other hand, did turn out to know. He came over in the first week in May to help plan out our move.

"Gringotts does not operate in the pacific," he informed us. "Only in Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and the eastern seaboard of North America. If you wish to have any of Harry's funds at your disposal, I suggest you make a withdrawal now and transfer it to the Bank of Pele, which has a conversion rate on goblin gold."

"We'd rather we give it a go without dipping into Harry's funds," I said. "We will, however, need your help getting him out of the country. Mostly by expediting the adoption process if possible."

Libra and I had filed to adopt Harry, but naturally it was a long, rigorous process that we just didn't have time for.

"Ah, that is something I believe Arthur can help you with," Dumbledore told us. "He is rather adroit at maneuvering through the muggle bureaucracy. However, I am going to insist that you at least take a small stipend from Harry's funds. You are going to a great deal of expense for this, and I think you must agree that it would be in Harry's best interest for him to grow up financially comfortable."

"Well, how much exactly does Harry have?" Libra asked.

"When I last checked, the Potter Vault was valued at some 73000 galleons," Dumbledore informed us. "This was around the beginning of the year."

Libra's jaw just about hit the table. I did some mental math.

"So, at a 5-1 exchange rate, that's like...£365000, or about say, $520000?" I ventured. "What about investments? Surely the money isn't just sitting there."

Dumbledore gave me a puzzled look. "Of course it is, though only in the standard Gringotts interest rates. Harry's is earning a very respectable 5% interest on his gold."

"David, couldn't we do better?" Libra asked. "That is a very large sum of money. Perhaps if we paid Harry back by managing his funds and providing him with an even larger inheritance in due time?"

"My investments haven't done so hot lately, you know that," I said. "I think we're just too far back for me to really know. Besides, the ripples from the changes might make my knowledge worthless."

Libra rolled her eyes. "It has been less than a year. Such things take time. What if we took out 5000 galleons for moving expenses and such? That would give us a very nice nest egg to start our new life, and it would hardly bankrupt Harry."

I drummed my fingers on the table, considering. Taking care of Harry had certainly not been cheap, even with the stipend I'd received from the government. "Alright," I agreed. "That does sound wise. We can invest any left overs for him. Is there wizarding college?"

"There are programs of apprenticeship to various masters," Dumbledore informed us. "Such as becoming a potions master or a master dragon handler. Though that is not equivalent to the current muggle model as I understand it."

"How do we get the money though? I don't fancy just walking into Diagon Alley and asking for it," I said.

Dumbledore produced a small golden key from his robes. "With this, you have access to Harry's vaults. I confess, it should have been given to the Dursleys, but I held on to it for safekeeping until Harry was to enter into the wizarding world due to my desire to shield Harry for unnecessary risks. I will entrust it to you, however, as I believe you both have a somewhat better idea of how to navigate our world."

"Yeah, but we still have to actually go and get it," I pointed out.

"Just go with Nipsy," Libra suggested. "You'll be immune to any muggle repelling charms. You don't seem to just break enchantments by being around them, so have them withdraw the money, and make an exchange. Then have them wire it our bank account."

"Goblins use bank wire?" I asked skeptically.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Goblins, Mr. Murphy, are very swift to adopt any new muggle invention that allows for the more efficient management of gold. There is little danger for you if you do go and retrieve the gold. The goblins will tell no one who accessed the Potter vaults, and as you have paperwork proving that you are in fact Harry's guardian there will be no trouble."

"Fine," I agreed. "We can do that. However, there is one very important thing we'll have to spend at least a little money on."

"What's that?" Libra asked.

"We'll have to go to the most magical place on earth," I declared.

Dumbledore's eyebrows furrowed. "Why would you wish to go to Atlantis?"

"That's not what he's talking about," Libra said, smiling. "And I think that's a wonderful idea. We could all use a vacation."

Dumbledore shrugged, apparently accepting that I was a few fries short of a happy meal. "Very well. I take it you intend to depart at the end of the term?"

"Yes," Libra agreed. "David has declined to renew his contract, and I've let my supervisor know I will be leaving at the beginning of July."

"We're in the process of getting Harry and Libra green cards," I explained. "Libra won't be a problem, the US will recognize her as my spouse. Harry, on the other hand, will be nigh on impossible if the adoption doesn't go through."

"I shall see to it that whatever help we can offer is rendered," Dumbledore said. "I take it you intend to avoid any magical entanglements, shall we say?"

"As much as possible," Libra said firmly. "It's the best way to keep our family safe."

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed. "However, at some point, Harry will require a magical education. And I assure you, no institution is capable of providing the same level of quality and safety as Hogwarts."

"Right. Now that the basilisk is gone and you know not to hire any prospective Dark Lords," I said casually. "Because that would just be silly."

"As I have said with Severus, do not hold actions I have yet to take against me, Mr. Murphy," Dumbledore said calmly.

I shrugged. "Fair point. We'll be in touch. I'll send you a message once we're safely settled."

"I intend to see you once more before you depart," Dumbledore said. "If you would so indulge me, I would be grateful."

"That is fine," Libra agreed. "You have earned a measure of our trust."

After Dumbledore left, I glanced at Libra. "Changing your tune on Dumbledore?"

"He is...not what I expected," Libra admitted, looking down into her mug. "I confess, I still mistrust him. He rather bungled the whole affair with Sirius Black."

"Agreed, but he is human," I pointed out. "Also, is it just me, or does he really not give off the impression that he could successfully orchestrate a war? Like, at all. I'm not Ender Wiggin, but I've played enough Civilization and Warcraft to know that sometimes, you have to choose who dies and be one cold blooded son of a bitch when you're a commander. Dumbledore doesn't seem like he would ever be willing to endanger those he cares about."

"Perhaps. I do know that I don't trust him with our son's life, not completely. His education perhaps, but not in matter of life and death."

I laughed. "You know, as a teacher, I tend to feel like those are pretty much the same thing."

Now, while I was nervous about going to Diagon Alley, I was also 100% stoked. This was sort of like getting to go see Oz or Bag End. Granted, some of the luster was worn off as I was going on a rather routine bank run, but still. Pretty cool.

I drove to the Leaky Cauldron with the directions Libra gave me. She'd visited many times as a young child, but never as an adult, so I got turned around a few times. I did find it at last though, and really it just seemed like any other dinky little pub. I straightened my tie and coat jacket, feeling like someone out of a spy novel. Unlike British Wizards, American ones apparently dressed more like the muggle counterparts, though I can say that the cut and style was subtly off from what you could have found in a regular tailors shop.

I stepped into the pub, and snapped my fingers. "Burt," I said, snapping my fingers.

Nipsy uncloaked from his invisibility at my side, answering to his codename. He was also wearing a burlap sack with an old feed label on it. I hadn't been able to find anything with propane products on it.

"Afternoon, gentlemen," I said, tipping my stetson hat to the barkeeper, who I assumed was probably called Tom. "Name's Hank Hill. Ah'm lookin' for Diagon Alley. Mind showin' me the way?"

I was doing my very best Texas drawl, which I thought was pretty terrible but was probably good enough to fool a brit (except Libra, who knew me well enough to giggle when I tried it on her).

"Just out back sir," Tom answered. "Oi, Ben, set them dishes down and help this man enter the alley."

"Mighty kind o' yeh," I said, tipping my hat once more. "Come on, Burt. We got place's teh be."

Ben showed me the series of wand taps, and I nodded my thanks. It wouldn't do me any good, though Dumbledore had given me a spare wand, authentically American as it turned out. Cottonwood and Jackalope horn. Will wonders never cease.

I did my best not to gape as the wall peeled back in on itself. After all, I was supposed to be a wizard and such things were ordinary for them, or so I reckoned. I did, however, let out a low whistled when I beheld the alley in its full glory. It was like the renaissance fair, only times about a thousand. People in brightly colored robes flowed by on either side of me, and I could see magic being casually displayed at every corner. Pixies hung in cages they rattled, while owls swooped by, carrying packages and letters. There was an area where people were landing and taking off on brooms, which seemed really odd to me, as I hadn't seen anyone riding in on them. Then they would vanish as they rose, and I slowly nodded. Something that bent light around them wouldn't help me see them, and it would be necessary for cameras.

I followed "Burt" to the bank, eyeing the shops as we went. They all seemed somehow wrong. The angles and geometry were all very MC Escheresque, and I was fairly certain that if I followed some of those straight lines I'd find out they warped in on themselves. Everything seemed as though it was taking up not enough space as well, which would make sense if they were some sort of tardis-esque spatial distortion going on. The bank itself was an obvious offender. I swear that none of the pillars on the front were the same height, yet the base and ceiling looked entirely even.

"Stuff like this is enough to make feller go mad," I muttered under my breath.

"Hah, not all of us are lucky enough to be from somewhere they got space to build, mate," a street vendor close to me said.

I frowned at him. "Awful good hearin' you got there, partner. Might want to be a bit more discreet about what sorta conversation ya'll are listenen to."

The vendor grinned and held up a potion, which was baby dooky green. "Trell's Superb Hearing Elixir. Only four sickles a bottle. Doses last for three hours!"

"I'll pass," I said, then turned back to the bank and squared my shoulders. "Come on, Burt. I reckon goblins is the same everywhere."

I stomped up the steps, trying not to count them. The number seemed to shift slightly as we ascended, becoming more than my eyes had first perceived. No one else seemed to mind though, so I gritted my teeth and focused on not letting my eyes cross. Once inside, the room seemed normal enough, except for one corner that stretched back just a little to far. The goblins looked like something Jim Henson would have dreamed up, though far more likelike. The little details, like muscles rippling under the skin, or how they breathed made them more real than any muppet could have been. I walked up to the first open teller, withdrawing a key and a folder with some paperwork in it.

"I'm here to make a funds transfer," I informed the teller.

It wasn't Griphook, if you were wondering. This goblin went by the distinguished name of Redtalon, and had long rust colored nails. He looked up at me and frowned. "Very well, do you have an account with us, or do you need to open one Mister...?"

"Murphy," I stated quietly. I held up the key. "The accounts not mine. It's the Potter vault. I've got papers showing I'm the legal guardian of Harry Potter."

"Ah." The goblin accepted the key and examined it. Then he picked up the folder and flipped through it. "One moment."

He hopped off his stool and walked over to one of desks at the back. They had a short whispered conversation as the other goblin examined the paperwork. After a moment, the manager type pulled out a few forms and handed them to Redtalon, who waddled back and hopped up on his stool.

"Very well, these seem to be authentic. We'll need you to fill out these."

The forms were actually pretty standard bank affair, asking me to put down the names of those allowed to access the vault and who the vault manager would be.

"So I'm in control of all withdrawals until Harry reaches 17?" I asked, reading through the paperwork as I filled it out.

"Yes, at that point the boy will reach his age of majority and the account will default back to him as the title owner," the goblin stated.

"Could I get a record of all activity on the account since November 1981?" I asked. "I want to make sure no one has been making any unlicensed withdrawls."

The goblin curled his lips at me. "No one who does not bear the key and the rights to the account can access it!"

"And that wouldn't happen to include one Albus Dumbledore, would it?" I demanded.

The goblin frowned. "Was he the key holder?"

"Yes," I said impatiently.

"Hmmm. Very well. I shall order the documents retrieved." the goblin made a quick note and motioned to another clerk, who waddled over and took the paper then waddled away.

I handed the completed paperwork back to the goblin. I'd listed Libra and myself as the only adults allowed to make withdrawals, and limited Harry to the sum of 250 galleons a year. That was probably plenty to get school supplies with, and have money left over for fun. Though if I had my way, I'd be the one footing the bill for all of Harry's school purchases.

"Very good. And the funds transfer you wish to conduct?" the goblin demanded.

"I want to withdraw 5000 galleons, have them converted to British Pounds and deposited in this account," I said, passing over a form my own back had provided.

The goblin studied it, nodding. "Very good. You shall have to go and retrieve the galleons yourself however." He glanced at Nipsy, frowning. "You have not filled out form 154 H, which would allow your house elf to do so."

"No need, we can go get them," I stated, reaching into my pocket and withdrawing a package of dramamine. "I came prepared."

Redtalon hissed at seeing the pills. "What are those! No magic in Gringotts, it would violate the treaty!"

"Relax," I said, showing him the pills. "They're over the counter anti nausea medication. I can get a little motion sick, and I've heard about the cart rides."

"Over the counter?" Redtalon said, peering at the package. Then he sneered and hissed at me. "Why, those are muggle things. Why on earth do you have those?"

"Loophole abuse," I said casually, popping one of the chewable tablets in my mouth and crunching it. "The rules say no magic, but they don't have one word about muggle stuff in them."

"Clever, for a wizard," Redtalon admitted grudgingly. "Come, human. Bring your elf along if you must. Disgusting little creatures."

Nipsy ignored the insult, and followed happily after us, apparently just glad to be along for the ride.

"Hey, Redtalon, I've got a funny question for you," I said, strapping myself into the cart. There was no one else around, so I felt comfortable asking him something a wizard would probably know or not care about. "Where did house elves originate?"

"Why do you ask me this?" Redtalon demanded as he turned a crank and the cart began to move.

"Because I want to know, and I figured you might," I replied.

Goblins apparently roll their eyes at snarky remarks too. "This is not a banking matter, human. I am not your friend. If you wish knowledge, read a book on the matter."

"Huh. Thanks. That's not a bad idea," I mused.

The rest of our ride passed in silence. I was supremely glad I took the dramamine, as I likely would have gotten sick with all the whipping about. Nipsy clutched his ears and looked terrified, and I offered him a pill as well. "Want one? Not sure if they'd work for you, but you may as well."

"No master," Nipsy said, his voice quivering. "Nispy thinks he is not wanting to try something muggles made."

"Suit yourself," I agreed.

We arrived at the vault, and I beheld the massive pile of money. I allowed myself to goggle at it a moment, imagining it was a dragon's hoard. Then I took the bags Redtalon had sold me earlier, and handed most of them to Nipsy. "We need 5000. Let's get to filling."

If it had been just me it would have taken ages, but with the house elf's enthusiastic help, we didn't take much time at all. The bags certainly didn't feel like they were full of gold, in fact they each seemed to weigh about five pounds. I had 10 of them, each about the size of five pound bag of potatoes.

"Right, this should be good," I said. We'd made a sizeable dent in Harry's cash supply, and I felt a pang of guilt. I did hope we'd be able to pay the kid back someday.

The ride back was slower and not as exciting, which my stomach and Nipsy appreciated. The elf happily hauled eight of the bags back out to the main chamber. He would have taken all ten, but I insisted on carrying two. I would have taken half, but when I'd suggested it the little creature had almost looked offended. They were just so weird.

It took about another half an hour to get the money counted by the goblins and transferred to my bank, during which the account record was delivered. There had been a significant amount withdrawals right after James and Lily had been killed, as well as an even more significant number of deposits. The withdrawals seemed to all be taxes of one form or another as well as what looked like funeral expenses. Then, assets they had were sold off it appeared, and the value deposited by Dumbledore or ministry officials. After that, the only activity was the slow but inevitable accumulation of interest.

"Looks like the old coot was playing straight with us after all," I observed. "Still, can't be too careful."

Redtalon rolled his eyes at me, and I frowned at the goblin. "What?"

"You humans. You can't even trust each other when it comes to gold, can you?"

"I dunno. Would you trust a fellow goblin to handle your kid's money well and wisely with no supervision?" I asked.

"Of course. If they did not, I would take their eyes as a blood price," Griphook, I mean, Redtalon said.

"Well, let's just say I was checkin' to see if I needed to collect me some eyeballs," I informed him.

Redtalon snorted and went back to filling out the forms he was working on, which suited me fine.

When it was all said and done, the goblins charged a flat 50 galleon fee to transfer the money over, which still left me with 4950 galleons. I pulled five more out of my pocket. "I'll be taking this as a cash withdrawal. Got some shopping to do."

"What you do with your money is not my concern, human," Redtalon told me in a bored tone. "The amount was automatically withdrawn from the ledgers as soon as you exited from your vault."

"Cool. We done here then?"

"Yes, human. Goodbye."

"Take care," I told him, and turned and left with Nipsy.

"Now Burt," I said, straightening my hat as we stepped out into the dusk. "Where do you reckon we could find us a few books?"

We went to Florish and Blotts, and I got _A History of Magic_ , _Hogwarts: A History_ , _Modern Magical History_ , and _Knowing Your House Elf: a Brief Guide to the Nature and Origin of our Beloved Servants_.

"You want to take a gander at this one?" I asked Nipsy as we exited the shop.

Nispy shook his head. "Nipsy does not read books, that is for wizards, not elves."

"Illiteracy is the whip of the tyrant," I muttered. "Oh well. Come on, let's be gettin' home."


	15. Chapter 15

Getting a job in Hawaii without the internet was a right pain in the ass. This was exacerbated by the fact that Hawaii's school system ended in May and began again in August. At first Libra and I had been more than a little worried about that, but we decided we could just try and find temporary jobs at a hotel. The next question of course, was where we wanted to move in Hawaii.

Most people when they think of Hawaii imagine a sandy tropical paradise, either in the city or on some remote sandy shore that isn't too far from all the comforts of modern living. The first is a picture of a beach side city with great shopping and culture; essentially Waikiki or the North Shore of O'ahu. The second is closer to a resort, possibly on Maui or Kaua'i.

I, however, had lived in neither of those places. I had lived on the Big Island in a small town called Captain Cook, which was just south of the second largest town of Kona. The Big Island certainly had a few resorts and some sandy beaches, but it was far closer to rural middle america than either a deserted beach or a bustling metropolis.

Plus, this was nearly 30 years ago. The plantations that had closed in the next two decades would still be around, though on their last legs. What would still be around were the active volcanoes (Kilauea would erupt for at least the next 30 years, Mauna Loa had just gone into a three decade plus quiet period), the fields of cattle, and the tight knit local communities.

Libra and I took this into account when we decided where to move, but we finally both agreed that we did not wish to go to cosmopolitan O'ahu, as that would be inviting someone from elsewhere to recognize Harry. Instead, we'd move to the quiet Big Island, where it was unlikely anyone would ever realize who we were.

It was Monday, June 15th, 1987, and term was wrapping up in three weeks and we had sold off nearly all our possessions. All that remained were a few choice items and clothes that could be packed in our suitcases. Harry was sad he was leaving his friends, but excited to be moving to Hawaii. Libra was cautiously optimistic, and I felt a sort of existential crisis about going somewhere I would only half recognize and the potential for meeting people three decades younger than I remembered them.

And then everything changed forever.

I remember it clearly. I was at school with Harry. The bell had just rung, and I was greeting parents and giving goodbye hugs to all the students. I saw Libra's car race into the parking lot, and she stumbled out, looking dazed.

"I'm sorry Fred, it looks like I have an emergency," I said, grabbing Harry by the arm.

"Dad what is it?" Harry demanded.

"Something's wrong with mum," I said, sprinting for the parking lot. My mind was racing. Libra hadn't had work that day, she tended toward odd hours thanks to the nature of social work, which we'd been glad for as she'd come down with some sort of stomach bug.

"Libra, what's wrong?" I shouted. I saw her cheeks were stained with tears, and that she was clutching her abdomen. Had her illness worsened? "What happened?"

LIbra saw me coming, and started grinning. She ran forward and nearly knocked me off my feet, throwing her arms around me.

"Libra?" I asked, patting her back. Harry stopped beside us, looking confused.

"David, Harry, I've news," she said, pulling back and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Sorry, I must look an awful mess. I just found out, and hurried over from Doctor Jones' office." She beamed at me, cradling her abdominal region. "David, I'm pregnant."

I felt like I'd just been hit by a bolt of lightning. Which, really, was sort of dumb. For two months Libra and I had been vigorously l engaging in just the sort of activities that can get someone pregnant. We had also never bothered with anything to prevent a pregnancy, though we also hadn't explicitly been trying for a child. Which, you know, is probably a sure fire way to get pregnant. However, while I had considered the idea that Libra could become pregnant, I hadn't actually prepared myself mentally for it.

Knowing that this was important, I forced myself to reach out and place my hands over Libra's and smiled at her. "That's amazing," I managed to say. For some reason, my eyes had filled with tears, and I was having trouble seeing. I looked to Harry, who seemed very confused and a little frightened by this. "Did you hear that? You're going to be a big brother."

Harry instantly went from "I'm almost ready to cry" to "wildly excited" in a way that only a five year old can.

"Olivia! Hey Olivia! I'm going to be a big brother!" Harry shouted at the top of his lungs. He ran up to all his classmates and a few of the other teachers who had poked their heads outside of their rooms to see what was going on, jumping up and down and telling everyone.

"Well," I said, pulling Libra into a hug. "Looks like Harry's thrilled."

"I'm glad," Libra said. "I was worried he was going to be jealous."

Before we knew it, we were swarmed by munchkins all asking excitedly about the baby. Libra was great with the kids, even letting them dig out my pretend doctor's kit from the classroom and "listening" to the baby, which at this point was probably the size of a lima bean. Many of the mothers came over and hugged and congratulated us, and I had a hard time keeping a stupid grin off of my face, though I likely needn't have bothered. Fred slapped me on the back and told me he'd buy me a pint at the pub.

"Later," I told him. "I want to spend some time with my wife first."

That evening, Libra and I were in bed together, her up against my chest as I felt her still flat stomach. Their might have been a tiny bulge, but that was mostly because she was ordinarily as thin as a stick, though she had been fattening up thanks to my and Nipsy's cooking.

"Are you frightened?" I asked Libra, my hands playing over her thighs.

"More than a little," she admitted. "It's a scary world we'll be bringing this little one into. Wizards after us, Dumbledore scheming to control us. It's scary. I almost feel selfish, wanting to bring a child into such a dangerous life. But I do want one. More than one. Harry's wonderful, but…"

"But he needs someone to play with," I said. "You should never have just one kid. Studies have shown that only child syndrome is a real thing. Children without siblings are less well socialized and have harder time sharing and interacting with same age peers. And by studies, I mean my totally biased observations from 5 years of teaching."

Libra giggled and shifted against me, and despite our activities only minutes earlier I felt my desire for my wife growing. I kissed her on the back of the neck, and she moaned softly. "Will it be OK?" she asked me, taking my hands and guiding them back to her navel.

"Of course," I told her. "We're going to the best place ever to be a kid. This little one will have years of safety before we even need to begin worrying about anything. Trust me, you'll see. Hawaii will be wonderful."

"Yes," Libra agreed, rolling over so she faced me. "You'll be a fantastic father."

"And you'll be an award winning mother," I told her. "You're already great with Harry."

We kissed, and by the time we came up for breath we were already sweating and panting again. I rolled over onto Libra, and she smiled at me. "We can't make another just yet, you know."

"I know," I admitted. "But we do need to stay in practice. Like I said, kids need to come in pairs."

We ended up taking out another 5000 galleons from Harry's vault. We didn't exactly plan to spend it, but with one more joining the family we felt like the extra security blanket was going to be needed. Harry approved of the entire idea, but then again he was five, and he approved of any idea that his super awesome parents had most of the time.

Even as the end of term finally arrived, it struck me just how much Harry had changed. Gone was the slightly nervous and reluctant child who had come into my classroom, underfed and starved for attention. Instead, we had a kid who was warm and affectionate, always ready to hug someone or give a high five. Harry also seemed to burst with energy at all times, ready to run or ride his bike at all hours of the day.

Then, it was finally time. We sold off or gave away the last of our possessions, keeping only what could fit in suitcases. Harry's was loaded with legos and crammed with the nintendo so that their was barely room for his clothes.

"We'll need mostly new ones anyway," I told Libra when she eyed the suitcase of toys skeptically. "It's much warmer there. No one wants many sweaters or long sleeve shirts in Hawaii. Well, unless you work on top of one of the mountains, but still."

School went out with a bang. To my surprise, there was a small party from several of the parents and other teachers to say farewell to me.

"You've only been here a year, David, but what a year!" Catherine told me. "You've found a wife, two children, and had any number of adventures. I also truly appreciate what you've done for the families of this school, especially the Davers and Harry. Do come visit some time."

After the party, I really did have that pint at the pub with Fred and Vicar Red. Beer tasted about as good as I figured it would, which is to say not at all, but it was still fun to say goodbye to everyone. Libra had been treated to a small baby shower by the ladies at the social services office the week before, and there had been a lot of crying and hugging at that one. The boys and I did a lot more back slapping and off key singing, but it was still fun.

The next morning, Dumbledore arrived to see us off.

"I hear congratulations are in order," Dumbledore told us as Nipsy served breakfast. "May your child know health all of their days."

"Thank you," I said, pulling Libra into a tight one armed hug. "Any parting words of advise?"

"Don't judge the magical world too harshly, the both of you. I know you've had a somewhat negative experience thus far, but the world is yet full of wonder and magic. Perhaps you will find the healing your souls seek in these next few years."

"Hmm," Libra said, frowning at Dumbledore. "No last exhortation for us to return?"

"I trust that you will see the wisdom of it, in time," Dumbledore said calmly. "I have every reason to believe that you have Harry's best interests at heart, and ultimately they lie here in Britain."

"Uh-huh." I looked the old man up and down, but he calmly sipped his morning tea. "So what do you have planned if we decide we like paradise better than a confrontation with the Dark Lord?"

"We both know the prophecy, Mr. Murphy," Dumbledore answered. "I trust that you wish to see your son live, rather than wither way."

My blood ran cold, and I found myself half rising. Surprisingly, it was Libra who pulled me back down. "David, he's not threatening Harry. Do you remember the full text of the prophecy?"

I nodded slowly. "Neither can live while the other survives," I said quietly. "You know something, old man. What is it?"

"I quickly realized that Harry's scar is more significant than it seems," Dumbledore told me calmly. "I have long suspected as much. When I learned of the horcruxes and their method of creation, it made sudden sense. Tom marked Harry as his equal because Harry has a bit of him inside. Harry told me as much himself, especially when he was describing his dear pet snake. I regret deeply that this is the case: it would be far better for Harry to have a happy, carefree childhood. I hope you do enjoy your time in Hawaii, and that Harry enjoys the peace he has thus far been robbed of.

"I make no threats, Mr. Murphy, despite your insistence on seeing them. When will you at last come to realize I am your ally? I have been researching methods of extracting the horcrux, ones that would not, as you put it, involve uniting the Hallows."

Me and my big mouth. "You're smarter than you look," I grumbled.

"Age has some few advantages, the primary one of which is wisdom." Dumbledore stood, smiling. "Fare thee well, Murphy family. Take this as my parting gift. May it ease your travels."

Dumbledore removed an envelope from within his robes, and placed it upon the table. Libra grabbed it and tore it open. Inside was a passport and visa for Harry, along with adoption papers. They read: "Harry Potter Murphy. Parents and Legal Guardians: David Augustine Murphy, Libra Zubeneschamali Murphy."

Oh, I was so going to use that on Libra later. Who the hell names their kid Zub...whatever.

I looked up at Dumbledore in shock. "You really did it. He's practically ours now."

"He was never mine, Mr. Murphy. As a fellow educator, you must know that. We shepard, we guide, we treasure, but we never own. Their time is ours, but our hearts become theirs. Good day."

I stopped Dumbledore at the door, and stuck out my hand. "Thank you. I have to ask your forgiveness. It seems I misjudged you."

Dumbledore extended his hand. His handshake was surprisingly firm, though more than a bit boney. "You are forgiven, Mr. Murphy. Write often. I would so love to hear of how your family grows. May the blessings of Merlin be upon you."

"Via con dios," I said, waving farewell. Dumbledore vanished with a soft pop, and I shook my head. This world was so weird. I had thought someone like Sirius Black, who wore his heart on his sleeve, would be far more trustworthy and capable than an old schemer like Dumbledore. Seemed I had a thing or two to learn about judging people by what your read about them.

Our flight departed mid afternoon, from Heathrow International to Atlanta, Georgia. Harry was excited at first to be on the plane, though he passed out after the first few hours. It was grueling, but we made the trip across the Atlantic with few issues. Our layover in Atlanta was a long night, which we spent in a small hotel room not far from the airport. Then it was back on a plane for the cross continental flight to California. By this point the novelty of flight was long gone for Harry, but he tolerated it with good humor, quietly reading or looking out the window at the passing American continent below.

"You know, I never quite realized it was so big," Libra confessed to me as we passed over the Great Plains.

"They say in europe, a 100 miles is a long trip and a 100 years is a short time," I said. "Here, it's the opposite. Most folk can drive 100 miles and not even leave their state, sometimes not even the county. But 100 years? That's a long time."

"I suppose that's true," Libra admitted. "Still, this past year has felt like it's been ages."

"No kidding," I agreed. "I did more living before I was even born than I ever did gettin' old."

"Oh hush. You're not going to lecture me about being older than you again, are you?"

"Well by reckoning, you're most of 26, where as me, our baby's gonna be 'bout 2 years older than I am," I whispered, putting my hand over Libra's slightly bulging belly. She was about three months pregnant, and starting to show a bit.

"We still don't know what they will be," Libra said, squeezing my hand.

"They'll be perfect, no matter what," I promised.

Finally, we arrived in Los Angeles, California. We got in the rental car, and for once, I got to drive. I sighed in contentment as I climbed in on the drivers side.

"Finally, driving on the right side of the road," I said. "Come on folks, it's late, but we got time to stop at In-N-Out. Best damn burgers in the whole country."

After we'd devoured our tasty Americana, we headed to Anaheim. "So Harry, you ever been to the most magical place on earth before?" I asked as we got onto the freeway. Even though it was late, traffic was still nuts.

"You know I haven't dad," Harry said, peering out the window. His earlier tiredness had been forgotten as he gazed at the passing city lights. "Can we see Mickey's house?"

"From where we're staying, you can see the whole Magic Kingdom," I informed him.

We were of course, going to Disneyland. Libra was down playing it, but she was pretty excited too. Hell, I was excited. I only visited the place once as a kid, and even if they didn't have any of the new stuff, it would still be a hoot to take Harry there. We were, after all, spending his money. I still felt guilty about that, but we'd had good news in the past few months. I'd bought a lot of Sony stock when I saw how low it was, and it had spiked recently, giving us a huge return on investment. And I knew full was it was going to just keep on getting better and better.

We stayed at the Disneyland Resort, where we'd booked a five day stay. The next morning Harry woke us up at a positively ungodly hour, but we got in right as the park opened along with the rest of the whole damn world. As soon as Harry saw Donald Duck though, the whole thing was already worth it. He shyly walked up and asked for a hug, which the actor was happy to give. We snapped some pictures, and then it was off to the races. We went on dozens of rides, including my favorite, the Jungle Boat Ride, and Harry seemed to love each and every one.

Libra was having the time of her life as well. I don't think I'd ever seen her laugh so much, or feel so carefree. She confided to me that for once in her life, her troubles really were thousands of miles away. Her brother and the Death Eaters would never come this far, and Libra really felt like she could relax. She enjoyed the rides, the treats, and especially Harry purchasing some Disney Princess earrings.

"Happy Birthday mum!" Harry said excitedly as he held up the earings. "I know it's early, but dad says I should give these too you now!"

They were diamonds, a perfect replica of the earrings that Cinderella wore for her big dance number with the prince. They cost a pretty penny to be sure, but Libra needed some sparkle in her life, and it had been Harry's idea after all. Libra cried a bit and told Harry he was the best son in the world.

"Well what if I have a little brother though?" Harry said, poking Libra's belly. "Won't he be the best one too?"

"We'll just have to have a girl then," Libra told him. "Then she can be the best daughter."

"That would be OK," Harry decided. "But if it's a girl you have to make another one, I want a brother too."

"Talk to your father about that," Libra said. "I might do all the hard work, but he gets to pick how they come out."

"Come on dad, you know I want a baby brother," Harry said. "A girls OK this time but make sure you get it right next time OK?"

"I'll keep that in mind sir," I told Harry, a serious expression on my face. "Though if we get it wrong, I'm always happy to keep trying."

The five days passed in a blur. We saw nearly everything in the park, including several parades that had Harry gasping in delight at the colorful displays. We even got to see fireworks one night, a special midsummer celebration. Harry sat on my shoulders as we watched them go off, a Mickey Mouse hat perched on top of his head. He clapped and cheered at each new display, and though I'd seen fireworks before, it was like it was the first time.

"We'll do it right, this time," I whispered as the rockets flared over head. "A lifetime of wonder, not of tears."

It's promises like that you usually end up breaking, in the end.


	16. Chapter 16

Coming home to Hawaii didn't feel like it should have. The plane ride was much the same as the first one that had brought me to the islands had been; long and uncomfortable. Thankfully Harry slept most of the way, exhausted and more than a little sunburned from his time in the Most Magical Place on Earth. Libra and I were both restless however, and despite the fact that there was nothing but endless blue below us, we both kept glancing out the window.

This was supposed to be the start of a new life for all of us. Granted, it was just a temporary reprieve, but it was a much needed one. The past year had been full of stress and anxiety for the both of us, and it did feel like we were entering into the promised land. However, there were also a great many unknowns. Neither of us a had a job, we had nowhere to live yet, and we had a baby on the way. In short, we were a disaster waiting to happen. If it hadn't been for the 80 grand in the bank, I would have been really worried, but as it was that was more than enough to survive on for several years.

We landed on O'ahu first, where the skies were sunny and dotted with a few lazy clouds. Harry had a blast chasing all the birds in the terminal until we got him to settle down. The airport was much as I remembered it, though with far less security present. Most of the people there were tourists in tacky Hawaiian clothes and leis, the ones arriving looking excited and fresh, the ones departing looking sunburned and exhausted but content. Our little family fit right in amidst the travelers as we got out a deck of Uno cards and waited for our flight to the Big Island.

"First time in Hawaii?" one of the other passengers in the terminal asked us.

"Theirs," I said, indicating Libra and Harry. "I was here at one time." A time that was about 30 years in the future, but still technically correct.

"We're going to live here!" Harry said happily. "Daddy's a teacher."

"Really?" the man said, looking over at me. He was a big native man with tribal tattoos on his large arms, and black hair that was going grey at the temples. He wore an aloha shirt and slacks, and looked like some sort of business man. "What kind?"

"I've taught kindergarten general education, and K-5 special education," I told him. "I'm certified for K-12 special ed and K-6 for general education. Recently I was abroad teaching in England, where I met my wife. But we had some pretty bad experiences there and decided we needed to move back to the states. Hawaii seemed like a good choice, though I'm still looking for a job. I've got a screening interview at the Hilo Union Complex in two days."

"Is that so?" the gentleman stuck out his hand. "George Kahue. I'm the principal at Hanalei Elementary down in Hanalei Town."

I took the hand, feeling George's firm but not crushing grip. "I know where that is, you're between Volcano and Pahala, where the coffee and mac nut farms are."

"That's right. I'm actually just back from an administrator's meeting here on O'ahu. I got word two weeks ago that my own special education teacher just got engaged and is moving back to the mainland. I've been scrambling to find a replacement. You interested?"

"Absolutely!" I said eagerly. "Though my paperwork hasn't all been processed yet. Here, I think I've got a resume in my suitcase." I dug out one of the copies of my resume I'd stuck in a folder, and handed one to Principle Kahue. He thumbed through it, pausing at the letter of reference from Catherine.

"Looks good," he said. "I see here you graduated from Arizona State. You from there?"

"Grew up in Gilbert, Arizona," I told him. "Taught in Chandler for four years before moving to England. Guess I just had itchy feet."

"Well you pass that screening interview and then give me a call," George said. He dug around in his wallet and handed me a business card. "Tell Ben Souza I got first dibs on you. I'll give him a call when I get home."

"Thank you very much," I said, a sense of relief flooding into me. "I was sort of worried I'd have to sub or work at a hotel. Especially with the baby on the way."

"Congratulations," George said, smiling at Libra. "And you are?"

"Libra Murphy. A pleasure to meet you Mr. Kahue. I confess, I was a bit concerned we'd jumped in over our heads."

"I'm Harry," Harry said, holding out his own hand. "Dad says there are no snakes in Hawaii. Is that true?"

"It is," George told Harry, gravely shaking his hand. "Though we've plenty of mo'o. That's our school mascot actually. Even a few jackson's chameleons around."

"What's mo'o?" Harry asked.

"They can save you 15% or more on car insurance," I told him. Everyone looked at me like I'd grown a second head. I coughed. "Erm, sorry, they're geckos. Like Geico? The insurance company?"

George chuckled and Libra put her hand over her eyes. "We'll get along just fine, Mr. Murphy. Aloha, and welcome to Hawaii."

We had the same flight into Hilo, but we were several seats away. The plane landed around two in the afternoon. Everything was the same, but different. We drove past familiar places to me, some with newer coats of paint, others that were still empty lots and jungle. We did, of course, stop at the internationally renowned Ken's House of Pancakes for our meal. They still had the silly sumo statue and range the bell whenever someone ordered one of their ridiculously large sumo platters. I enjoyed a loco moco (fried egg, beef patty, rice, and brown gravy in a bowl) for the first time in ages, while Harry had himself banana pancakes and Libra ate some mahi-mahi. Then it was off to the hotel for some well deserved rest.

The next few days passed in a blur. We spent one day recovering, going to the Queen's Gardens and Moko Oola for a swim in the nice warm sea. Harry was entranced by the varieties of fish and proclaimed the water to be the clearest and warmest he'd ever seen. I had to stifle a laugh, as Hilo bay is notoriously cold and cloudy for Hawaiian waters. Libra just enjoyed getting some sun, though there was a light rain that afternoon.

Then it was off to the races for my interview. I successfully passed my screener once again, and gave George a call. He told me to come down to Hanalei the next morning at 9:00 for an interview. We spent the rest of the day getting supplies from KTA, and then went to Richardson's Beach Park. The roving bands of Pokemon Go raiders wouldn't show up for a few decades, but it was still a good place for a beachside barbeque and picnic. Harry found some local kids to chase through the tide pools, and we made hotdogs on a charcoal grill.

Driving down to Hanalei the next day was beautiful. We drove up and down the slopes of Kilauea and down a winding road through groves of coffee plants and mac nut trees. Hanalei was much the same as it would be 30 years in the future: a small village of about 3500 people, mostly workers on the local farms and plantations. The local mac nut processing factory was still operational though instead of a boarded up relic of a bygone age. I wondered how long that would last.

Harry and Libra walked over to the local park, where several kids around Harry's age were playing football (or should I say soccer?), while I entered into the office.

"Ah, Mr. Murphy, good to see you," George said as soon as I walked in the door. "This is our clerk, Auntie Debbie. I'll be with you in a few minutes."

I waved to the elderly local woman and introduced myself. She was the typical school Auntie, and if I was going to work there I would need to get in her good graces. She would know everyone and everything about the town, and had probably helped raise a good percentage of the population. "Good morning, Auntie Debbie. David Murphy, prospective teacher."

"Oh so you the haoli guy Mr. George was tell me about," she said, standing and coming over to give me a hug. No handshakes for auntie, those just weren't affectionate enough. "He told me you was in England?"

"Yes, I taught kindergarten there for a year. Met my wife Libra there too. Unfortunately due to a break in and some really tragic family history on her side of the family, we felt like it was time for a change of scenery. This place looks pretty perfect though: little bit slower."

"Plenty slower than over there," Auntie agreed. "I just need you to fill out these forms, OK?"

Ah, government paperwork. No matter how times change, it never does. I could have been zapped back to Babylon and I'd have to fill out forms on papyrus. Once I'd gotten the forms filled out, George called me into the office.

"I'm going to be straight with you, Mr. Murphy. I need a special education teacher, and I don't have the luxury of many options. School starts in 12 days on August 3rd. What I don't need though, is some idiot tourist who is only stopping here because he thinks he can go surf on the weekends and drink out of coconuts. That would be more work than just having to hire one of the aunties as a long term sub. The keiki might not learn much, but they wouldn't be hurt much either."

"Your resume looks good. I especially like the recommendation from the principal at your last school. Mrs. Catherine had a lot of good things to say about what you did with the kids in England. Especially that little autistic girl. She sounds a lot like two of the kids you'd be working with. Hard kids, but if you can hack it, it's a good job. So tell me; can you do the job, or do I need to look for someone else?"

"I can do it," I said. "I'm not here to drink out of coconuts. Frankly, I'm here because I needed to get out of England for the sake of my adoptive son."

George's eyebrows rose. "Harry isn't yours?"

"No. Libra and I have been married about four months, and we adopted Harry about the same time. He was a kid in my class who needed a foster home, and I stepped up to the plate. Unfortunately, he's got some really nasty people in his past. His father was a policeman who got on the wrong side of the IRA."

This was a story I'd discussed with Libra and Harry. The Troubles were still in full swing, and while the IRA were not on the same level as Death Eaters, that was only because the Death Eaters didn't have access to plastic explosives and lacked the religious fervor. Everyone could appreciate wanting to get the hell out of dodge if you had those kind of people on your tail.

George let out a low whistle. "We're pretty far from Britain, but we heard about that. Nasty stuff. So the kid was in danger?"

"Terrible danger," I confirmed. "My wife also has some scary stuff in her history, but that's her own story to tell. We started to look for places to go, and Hawaii is about as far as you can get from that sort of thing. I'm looking to settle down and plant some roots. My wife is pregnant, and Harry needs a stable environment to grow up in, as will his younger sibling. A small town away from all the drama is just what the doctor ordered."

"That's good," George said. "Hanalei is a good place to raise a family. I live not to far from here myself. I grew up in Pahala, taught in Oregon for a few years after I graduated, but then I came home. I've never regretted it. So then, the job is yours."

We shook hands, and I grinned widely. "Thank you so much. This is an answer to prayer to be honest with you. I wasn't sure what I was going to do."

"Glad to have you. It will take a few days for us to get the paperwork back to O'ahu and make it all official, but for now I think we can proceed. Come on, I'll introduce you to our head custodian, Uncle Sato."

Uncle Sato turned out to be japanese man only a few years older than me. He got me my classroom keys, and took me out to my classroom. It was a portable unit on the back of the school property with tiny old wooden desks and scant few supplies. Still, it wasn't much different than some of the classroom's I'd taught in before, and I was happy enough to have it. I had a lot of work to do in the next few days, but we'd get it done.

"Hey, Sato, you know of any place to stay around here?" I asked as we exited. "It's a long drive from Hilo Town, and I just got the rental car."

"Actually, the old teacher housing unit is vacant now," he said. "It's just a tiny little two bedroom ohana unit out back of the school, but it beats sleeping outside yeah? Talk to Auntie Debbie in the office, she can help you with the application."

By the end of the day, we had Harry registered for school, the keys to both my new classroom and the teacher housing unit, and even a lead on an old jeep someone had for sale for $700.

"Well praise the lord," I said as we started up our rental to head back to Hilo. "It seems we have reached the land of milk and honey."

"Mum, Dad, are we going to stay here a long time?" Harry asked.

"Of course," Libra told Harry, smiling at him in the rear view mirror. "We'll be staying here for years and years. Do you like it?"

"It's nice," Harry said. "I still miss Olivia and Tanner and Nick, but we'll be safe here, right? No more wizards?"

"No more wizards," I agreed. "Not for a very long time."

We spent two more nights in Hilo, using the days to set up my classroom and buy everything we'd need for our new lives. We bought the old jeep for sale, and moved in to the teacher housing unit. There was a three year time limit on our stay there, but the rent was cheap and it had slightly more room than my old apartment anyway.

Before school started however, I had a conversation with Auntie Debbie.

"Auntie, I've got sort of a strange request for you. You see, it's going to be my son's birthday in a couple of days, and well, frankly he's got a pretty terrible track record for them."

Debbie nodded seriously. She'd picked up that Harry was on the run from Irish terrorists, and of course now half the town knew. "Oh he's such a sweet boy. Terrible that. You were so kind, taking him in like that."

"Yeah, but I really want to make this birthday something special. You don't know a few kids that would like to come to a small birthday party, do you? I was planning on having it down at Punalu'u Beach. Just some cake and a few party games. They wouldn't have to bring presents or anything, just come and have fun."

Debbie's eyes shown with excitement. "Oh, my granddaughter is six, just about Harry's age. Her cousin is seven, he's a very nice boy. I think them and a few of their friends might like to go beach with Harry on his birthday."

"Thanks. I knew you were the right person to talk to about that, Auntie. I just want this to be a special day for Harry."

For the party, Libra made a giant sign with "Happy Birthday Harry" on it, and I baked him a banana cake with cream cheese frosting. I felt a bit of a pang making it: this was the cake my own mother had made for me year after year upon my own request when I was a boy. I put a shaka on it with a "Happy Birthday" in large multi-colored letters. We also put together a game of horseshoes and pin the tail on the donkey, along with a large pinata made from paper mache and an old trash bag and filled with sweets.

As it turned out, Auntie knew more than just a couple of kids. Her grandson and about a dozen of his cousins showed up to Harry's party. They even brought presents, wrapped in colorful paper and old comics. Harry was, naturally, thrilled. I couldn't imagine that his birthdays had ever even been acknowledged by the Dursleys in the past, or if they were it was in a dismissive derogatory fashion.

We had the party on Friday, July 31st at Punalu'u Beach Park, a fantastic black sand beach famous for the hawaiian green sea turtles that come up to bask on its shore. The kids laughed and played in the surf, then came out for hotdogs and party games. Auntie Debbie and her relatives had also brought sweet tea and lemonade made with lilikoi, a personal favorite of mine. Some of the guys brought a few cases of beer as well, and we all had a fantastic time talking story. Libra started to make friends faster than I did with some of the other moms while I chatted with the dads by the barbeque.

Soon enough it was time for cake. Harry closed his eyes to make a wish, then blew out the candles in one go. Everyone clapped and cheered, and then we served up the cake. Harry declared it the best he'd ever had, and some of the parents were very complimentary of my culinary skills. I was just glad I'd made a double layer in a 9x13 tin, otherwise there just wouldn't have been enough.

The sun went down and the stars came out, and it was time to open the presents. The other kids had gotten Harry his own slippahs, a real football (the american kind), and a lot of hand made stuff like a carved piece of koa wood in the shape of a snarling face or a piece of string strung with cowrie shells. Harry loved all of it, and then it was time to open the presents and I Libra had gotten for him.

Harry received his own boogie board to go surfing on, as well as a sturdy little bike for racing up and down the mountain trails with the other kids on. Harry immediately wanted to test out the board, and the kids ran back into the surf in the light of the moon and stars (and some flood lights we'd rigged up). The night was capped off when a turtle bumped into Harry on the board in the shallows.

Then, with all the children happy but exhausted, it was time to head back home. Harry fell asleep in the car despite the wind, and Libra and I held hands on the dash.

"This is perfect, David," Libra said as we motored back up the hill. "I admit, it was more than a little scared at times. But now that we're here, I'm so pleased we came."

"It's even better than I remember," I said. "This time, it really feels like home."

"It's it strange though, seeing places right out of the past for you?" she asked.

"Maybe. But this time, I have you and Harry. And the new little one, whoever they may be."

Libra and I put Harry to bed in our little house, tucking him under a light blanket before going to our own mattress laid out on the floor. I held my wife close as we drifted off to sleep, the sound of the birds and frogs calling in the night a gentle, familiar melody.

"Thank you God," I whispered. "We're finally out of the valley of the shadow of death."

Only one problem though. We might be on the mountaintop for now, but time was ticking away. In just a few short years, we'd have to return to England, and Hogwarts. And then I could see what a mess my actions had made of the timeline. In my heart, fear stirred. But I held Libra and my unborn child, and for now, it went back to sleep. And so did I.

 _Authors Note:_

 _Hanalei Town is fictional, though the location is based upon an area in K'au County Hawaii I've visited many times._


	17. Chapter 17

The new school year started off with a bang. Right away, I met Ka'ao and Ruby. Ka'ao showed up before the first bell had even rung. Apparently, he'd already punched another kid on the playground. Just from looking at the kid, I could tell he was somewhere on the ASD continuum. He held himself funny and never looked at whoever he was talking to, or more accurately, who he was talking at. He was a 5th grader with miserable grades and a strong dislike for school and haoli teachers. He'd driven the last special education teacher to distraction with his constant behaviors and everything she'd tried had seemed to result in failure.

"It's a new year with new teachers," I told Ka'ao. "Clean slate. I'm Mr. Murphy. Nice to meet you."

"Go back to da mainland haoli boy," Ka'ao said, slumping down in his chair.

That set the tone for our relationship in more ways than one. He spent the first day of school largely in my room, as his teacher was fed up with him before school had even begun. I took him with me as I did my rounds, meeting all of the students on my caseload. My first stop was a 2nd grade classroom, where I met Ruby.

Ruby was a bright, happy girl with a big smile on her face and lots of hugs for everyone, and almost everyone at the school knew her by sight and loved her. She was also still in pull ups, almost entirely nonverbal, and possessed of a third 21st chromosome. Ruby was sweet and meant well, but functionally she was about 3 years old. She was, therefore, a bit too much to handle in a mainstream classroom. Naturally she would be spending a large majority of her time out in the portable with Ka'ao and I.

There were other kids of course. A large number of kids with reading levels far below the mean, even by the much laxer standards of the 1980s. There were others with problems in math that I needed to assist as well. All told, I had 14 kids on my caseload in addition to Ka'ao and Ruby, though most of them would either spend 15-30 minutes in my room, or I would come and visit them in their own classrooms.

Ka'ao and Ruby both got to make all-about me posters for their first day of school. I had picked up a large number of supplies, and had them make them to show to the class. Ka'ao was, unsurprisingly, less than enthused to be with the "baby" and sneered at us the entire time. With Ruby's poster finished and Ka'ao's at the bare minimum, I walked them back to class. We deposited Ruby back with her own class, then I stopped Ka'ao outside.

"Hey, I need you to keep an eye on Ruby," I told him. "I'm worried the other kids might bully her."

"Huh?" Ka'ao said. He had, for the entire time, been the one bullying Ruby so far.

"Yeah. You see, kids like her, they're special. But they need older kids like you to keep an eye on them. Make sure they're learning and on task. We'll get work from her teacher everyday. You have to help me make sure that Ruby does it all, OK?"

"Whatever," Ka'ao grumbled at me. But he paused and watched Ruby happily sit down for story time with the rest of the 2nd graders, and his expression was a lot less hateful than it had been.

Over the next few weeks, I found out that despite the fact that he'd been passed on for years, Ka'ao was really reading at about a sub first grade level, and could barely add or subtract let alone multiply and divide.

Thus, Ruby was soon getting work that was suspiciously at the level that Ka'ao was ready for, and Ka'ao was assigned as her "tutor." He was a sullen grouch who was very rude still, constantly telling Ruby she needed to "grow up" and "stop being a baby." Ruby would usually respond to this with an "OK" (which was about the only word she knew) and a hug for Ka'ao, which he hated. However, Ka'ao was soon actually doing classwork with Ruby. He still had plenty of bad days and got in trouble for fighting more than once, but he quit cussing me out at every chance.

In contrast to my pupils, Harry was doing fantastically well. He was at the top of his class academically, and though some of the kids made fun of his accent they seemed to accept him as the brainy brit. Harry soon made friends with several of the other 1st graders in Mrs. Silva's class, including Tiana the granddaughter of Auntie Debbie, who was running a hot competition for the title of most academically accomplished six year old.

Harry joined the karate class that was taught in the old church on Wednesday nights, and we also enrolled in Cub Scouts. I bought an old uniform and Libra stitched on an Eagle patch, and I found myself an assistant Cub Scout master. We went on a number of hikes in Volcano National Park, where the lava lake was clearly visible, and did other fun things like the pinewood derby and pushcart racing.

While Harry and I were busy at School, Libra soon found herself a job as well. She got a job as a clerk at the local gas station (which she insisted was a petrol station to no end of amusement for the locals) with the understanding that she would soon need time off as her pregnancy was becoming more visible each day. Before long, I was joking that she looked like she was smuggling a small ball under her shirt, as she was still rather gangly. Not that I was ever stupid enough to use that word to describe her in anyone's presence.

Before we knew it, months had passed, and it was soon winter time. Not that much changed. The weather was certainly wetter and the days a little shorter, but overall the season was what Hawaii was famous for: still warm and mild. Neither Harry nor Libra missed the cold and wet of England in the least, and for myself, I was just glad to be back somewhere I didn't worry about freezing to death.

Christmas break came, and I took my family on a tour of the island. We went up Mauna Kea (where it was cold) and went star gazing at the visitors center. Libra turned out to know a great deal about all the constellations (at least the ones visible in the northern sky) and told us stories about Orion the Hunter and Leo the lion and their battles in the sky, as well as pointing out many of the brighter stars in the sky. We got to see some of the planets through the public viewing scopes, and Harry gasped in amazement to learn about the Voyager Probe and the space shuttles, including the recent and still tragic Challenger disaster.

Personally, I breathed a sigh of relief about that one. At least I had come back after that, and didn't have it weighing on my conscience.

We also visited the sunny Kona side of the island, and went scuba diving amidst Hawaii's still vibrant reefs.

"This is all gone in the future," I told Libra sadly. "We screwed up the earth too badly. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The coral was boiled alive and bleached by the acidic water. It all died in less than a decade."

"Surely it's not as bad as all that," she protested.

I shook my head sadly. "That's not a fight I can hope to win, not and protect Harry. Someone else will have to save the earth. I'm just worried about you guys."

"David, you can't save the whole world," Libra told me. "This is not your burden to bear."

"But I know so much," I whispered, still looking out at the waters. "I could do something."

"How?"

I sat, struggling to come up with an answer. Finally I stood, kicking at the sand in frustration. "I don't know! I don't know what to do! I don't know the dates for things, I don't remember how they happen, I barely even remember all the stupid mistakes I made! And I don't know that I haven't screwed everything up by moving us here instead of having Dumbledore train Harry to be a super wizard or something."

"David, you are being foolish."

I glared at Libra for a moment, but damn it she was right. "Yeah, I guess," I grumbled

Libra came up and put her arms around me. "Look at Harry. Do you really regret coming here?"

I looked out at the beach, where Harry was enthusiastically collecting tiny crabs in a plastic bucket from the tide pools. He was sunburnt despite multiple layers of sunscreen, his glasses were filthy, and he was barefoot and only wearing a now stained set of board shorts. But he was happy, dammit.

"No," I admitted. "I just...I don't know. I feel like I should be able to make things better."

"Stop living in the future, David. Live here, now, with me. With us." Libra took my hand and put it on her swelling womb.

I closed my eyes, listening to the sound of the waves as a small tear leaked out despite my protests. "Yeah. Ok."

"You've just never had time to think about all this properly before, have you?" Libra asked me. "It's been nothing but panic and running since last year. And then with the move, and the new school year...it's a lot. But you can rest here, now, with us."

Libra was silent for a long while, and I opened my eyes. She met my gaze, biting her lip. "Isn't that what Jesus would want?" she finally said.

Out of all the things Libra could have said, that was not one of the ones I would have expected.

"I thought you didn't believe in all that?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I didn't. But, well, I've been reading you know."

She had. She'd been coming to church with me too, every Sunday without fail. And while I'd been doing it more out of a sense of duty than anything else, perhaps it meant more to Libra.

She turned to watch Harry, a faint smile on her lips. "I used to think that if there was a God, he hated me, and that he had no plan. But now...David, has anything gone wrong for us, even slightly, since we arrived here?"

"Well I did get that toothache a month back," I said slowly. "And the jeep's radiator keeps leaking a little."

"Oh be serious, I'm trying to," Libra said, rolling her eyes at me. "I mean, it's like this was all planned. And I bloody well know it wasn't you, because you were just as panicked and worried as I was. But, well, I prayed, you know."

"We both did," I said. "Before we came here. Asked for a safe journey and blessings and all that."

"Yes, well, I made a deal of sorts I suppose. I know it's silly, you've told me God isn't a vending machine, but I did. I asked that we would be taken care of, that we would be safe and happy, and that I'd have a healthy baby girl."

I raised an eyebrow at Libra. "You know something I don't? I thought that was going to be a surprise for us."

"I just know," Libra said quietly. "I want to name her Sarah. Because it means laughter, and this has been a place of joy for us."

"Sarah," I said, nodding my head. "Good name. What about a middle name?"

"Hope. Because I think, for the first time in my life, I have some."

"And if it's a boy?" I prompted.

Libra gave me a knowing look. "Aren't you the one who talks about having faith?"

I raised my hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. Sarah Hope Murphy it is."

Sarah Hope Murphy was born at 9:48pm at K'au Regional Hospital on January 11th, 1988, a full year and three months older than her father, who was 29 at the time. She weighed 7lbs 2oz. I did some pocket math, and it looked like she might be a result of my birthday present, as I was born on April 11th. I was pretty sure ever telling her that would result in permanent mental scarring though.

The first time I held Sarah in my arms, it was like nothing else I'd ever done. Libra was tired and exhausted, but glowing with pride. It wasn't like Sarah was my first child, but she was my first born. Holding that tiny, wrinkly raisin my hands, she was the most wonderful thing I'd ever behild before. I realized I didn't love her more than Harry, only that it was different, somehow. Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone. I kissed her lightly on the forehead, holding her close.

"You were right," I told Libra. "A beautiful, perfect little baby girl. Almost as beautiful as her mother."

"My little miracle," Libra said. Sarah began to wail, and I handed her back to her mother, who began, tiredly, to nurse her. She hummed softly, and I rested my hand on Libra's sweaty hair. She'd recently cut it short, claiming it was too hot here for long hair, and I had to say it looked great on her. Not that I was biased or anything.

Harry got to hold his little sister for the first time the next day, after Sarah had taken a nice long nap. She slept happily in her older brothers arms, little hands clenched into fists, her head still slightly misshapen.

"She's cute," Harry said. Then he wrinkled his nose. "But she stinks."

I tried to take the baby away from Harry, but he shook his head. "Show me. I get to help with her too."

"You really sure you want to see your sister's stinky diapers?" I asked him.

Harry shrugged. "How bad can it be?"

Harry was severely lacking in experience with newborns. It was very disgusting, and Harry immediately lost any and all interest in changing his sister forever. However, he was very good with her. Every day after school, he'd run to our little house and read his assigned books to her while she slept in her crib. The house had grown very cramped indeed with its new occupant, but we spent so much time outside or on the lanai it didn't seem to matter.

Of course, with a new child things became very hectic indeed. Libra quit her old job, as had been the plan from the beginning, and became a full time mom. I was concerned that this would be a problem for her, as she had been independant and working for a very long time, but she firmly informed me otherwise.

"I'm not going to be the same kind of mother that I had. My daughter will grow up knowing that I love her, and that no matter what happens to her, she'll still be loved and cared for," Libra told me.

"What if she has magic?" I asked Libra quietly. "How will you feel about that?"

Libra looked at the child in her arms, who was quietly napping after another feeding session. She stroked Sarah's forehead, then seemed to decide something. "That won't change anything. She'll get to have the life I've always dreamed of."

A few weeks later, something else happened that changed a life forever. We were sitting in church as a sermon was wrapping up. It had been on healing, based on John 9:1-12, where Jesus healed the blind man. I thought it was pretty standard, but Libra seemed deeply affected by the sermon.

"It wasn't his fault," Libra whispered as the congregation began to rise and leave after the last song.

"No," I said. "Sometimes things happen because of our sin. Other times we are given trials to grow, or to glorify God." Which made me wonder about if I had sinned, or if being launched back in time was really for the Glory of God.

"So I wasn't born this way because I'm evil," Libra said. "I was born this way because it was how God wanted me to be born."

"Yeah, I mean, would you have ever met me or helped Harry if you'd been a witch?" I asked her.

Libra slowly shook her head. "I'd have been your enemy. I would have hated you."

"Well, maybe, maybe not," I temporized. "You're a good person, right?"

Libra lifted an eyebrow at me. "Aren't you the one who told me we are all born wicked?"

Crap, she'd caught me. "Well, yes, but I mean, I think you're pretty neat anyway."

"Liking someone has nothing to do with them being good. I liked my brother when we were little. I even thought some of his more sadistic tendencies were funny as long as they were exercised on people I didn't like myself."

"Yeah, OK, so maybe you being born a squib was for the good then? To glorify God and all that?" I said, hoping I wasn't about to start sleeping on the proverbial couch.

Libra nodded slowly. "Yes. I think you're right. I think I do need to forgive myself, and to ask forgiveness."

"Ask forgiveness for what?" I asked, puzzled. "Being a squib isn't inherently evil or anything."

"No, but perhaps I've done enough in my life to warrant that." Libra took my hand. "David, I think it's time I met this Jesus I've heard so much about. Can you help me with that?"

My heart just about exploded with joy. I squeezed Libra's hand. "Sure. What do you want me to do?"

"Just agree with me I suppose." Libra took a deep breath. "Jesus, I know I've done awful things in my life. But I ask now to be forgiven. I'll follow your plan, whatever it is. I believe you brought me my husband, brought me my children, gave me this life. It's a good life, one filled with joy and love. I want to love you too now. To be a better person than I have been, to not hate myself anymore. To forgive my family, and to live my life without that fear and hatred dragging behind me. Please, be my God. Help me to have faith."

"I agree," I said quietly. "God I thank you for my wonderful wife. I still don't know why I was sent here and now, but I'm glad I'm here. Despite everything, I think my life now is better than it was before. I'd not go back, not for anything. Give Libra comfort and hope God, and let our joy ever increase in you. Amen."

Libra never caught the religious fervor that the newly converted often seem to possess, a fervor I admit I've often wondered if I myself lack. However, life did change in little ways for us. Libra joined me in reading the bible together, and I found my own faith deepening and increasing along with hers. We prayed together daily, for our children, for the future, for the little things like our jeep to keep working and for sick friends.

Harry joined us in praying, and when asked, he told us that he "always believed in Jesus." I know for a fact he likely never went to church outside of maybe Easter or Christmas before I got him, but like many children who start young, he never had a moment he could mark as a "come to Jesus moment." He did ask Jesus into his heart and prayed with us at meals and at night. Honestly I think his faith was stronger than mine at times.

Out of all the many changes I had brought to the timeline, I think perhaps this one ended up being the most impactful, and the most beneficial. In later years Harry seemed to have a sense of peace and calm that he'd lacked, a deep rooted knowledge that no matter what, God was with him. For now though, he was still a little boy, and Jesus was basically just a really awesome hero you asked for stuff from. The maturity would come later.

Our home was filled with more joy than ever, a place of comfort and rest. It was small, we had little in the way of possessions, and our children kept us on our toes and misbehaved as kids are want to do. But it was good. And I guess I knew who to thank for that.


	18. Chapter 18

The 87/88 school year continued to fly by. Ka'ao was making progress, slow progress, but still progress, in his reading ability, though math continued to elude him completely if not done on his fingers. However, his classroom behavior was substantially improved, especially since instituting a reward policy wherein he got to read a story to Ruby's class on Fridays if he had good behavior. Interestingly it was about the same level as the second graders were capable of, but they liked having the big kid come in and be a part of their day. He still got in the occasional scuffle, but he was a lot less angry. He still called me Uncle Haoli though, and that was alright.

For her part, Ruby was slowly and painfully weaned off of the pull ups. We used a picture schedule and a Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) made of velcro and stuck in an old book. It was composed mostly of drawings done by Uncle Sato, who turned out to be quite the stick figure artist. However, despite my and her teachers best efforts, it was increasingly obvious that if Ruby did learn to read, it would never be at a very functional level. I quietly informed her parents that it would be best if we focused on pursuing life skills for Ruby.

My other students had their triumphs and their failures. I had one sixth grade girl who finally passed her first spelling test of the year in March, and I had never been so proud of any student before. I had a third grade boy who learned to decode at long last, and made two years worth of growth in a single year. Another student I had failed to make even a hint of progress, refusing to wear his glasses and unable to see the board. His teacher was an old battle axe, and didn't help the situation much, but you don't win them all.

Before I knew it, our first school year at Hanalei drew to a close. Harry's class reenacted the tale of Maui lassoing the sun (I taught them a modified version of "You're Welcome" from the 2016 movie Moana and wowed everyone) and it was clearly an oscar worthy performance. The kid had real acting potential, let me tell ya.

We made end of the year crafts, and had end of the year parties. I baked with my class in the old school ovens, and Ka'ao was revealed to be quite the dab hand at the culinary arts, at least as long as he got to eat them afterwards. Ruby mostly ate cookie dough, but she had fun anyway.

At the end of the last day, George swung by my classroom and shook my hand. "I took a risk on you, Mr. Murphy. And I think it paid off. I'm glad you're coming back next year."

"I won't be going anywhere," I said, smiling and nodding to the picture of myself and my students on the desk. "I need to collect a few more of those. Besides, Harry loves it here, and I think Libra's never been so happy in her life, even with the baby."

"Enjoy it while it lasts, they don't stay that cute," George said. "Have a great summer, Mr. Murphy."

Once more we explored the island. We drove all over in the old jeep, Sarah's car seat bouncing around with the rest of us. June was pretty uneventful, with lots of trips to the beach and one or two hikes in Volcano National Park and a camping trip with the Cub Scouts.

Then in July, we were exploring Kohala on the north side of the island. We were driving down an old dirt road, just taking a look around, when Harry pointed at a side road. "Hey dad, where does that go?"

I glanced at the road, then blinked. It looked like it was paved with asphalt for some reason. "I don't know," I said. "Let's go down it."

Libra was dozing in her seat, and Sarah was babbling happily to herself as we made our way down the road. Harry shook Sarah's rattle in front of her face, and she tried to reach for it, clapping whenever she managed to get it.

"Hey, look, a beach!" I said, pointing ahead through the forest. Ahead was a beautiful white sand beach, the kind you don't normally see on the big island. It was wide and about 100 yards long in a horseshoe shape. We didn't pass any signs or other warnings, and since all beaches are public land in Hawaii, I happily drove the jeep down and parked it off to the side.

"Where are we?" Libra muttered, blinking her eyes awake. "Oh, I think I left the oven on."

"No you didn't," I said, getting the cooler out of the back. "Come on, it's fine."

"I don't know, oh, David, I think I have a shift at the gas station," Libra said, fumbling with the buckle and stumbling around the side of the jeep.

"Libra, you quit your job seven months ago. We decided you should stay home with Sarah. What's going on?" I said.

Harry ran over and took Libra's hand. "Mum? You OK?"

Once Harry had her hand, whatever had been wrong with Libra seemed to fade. She shook her head, frowning. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. Must have been deeper asleep then I thought. Oh! This place is lovely. Stop here for lunch?"

"Sounds like a plan," I said. We set out a blanket and lay Sarah down on it. She attempted to crawl over to eat that very interesting sand. Libra picked her up and nursed her while Harry and I built a sand castle. We'd been there about 15 minutes, when Libra screamed.

"David, Harry, get away from there!" Libra shouted. "There's something in the water!"

I jumped up, grabbing a hold of Harry. Sure enough, an enormous dark shape had entered into the small lagoon.

"It's fine," I said. "Looks like a big manta ray or something."

"It's too big," Libra said firmly, standing up with Sarah. "I don't like it. It feels wrong."

"Dad, can you hear that?" Harry asked, tugging at my arm and trying to get closer to the waves.

"I don't...yes. Yes I can. What is that?"

It sounded like distant, garbled singing. Just as I was becoming confused, the dark shape broke the surface of the water, rising up as the lagoon grew shallow. My mouth fell open in shock, as the largest sea turtle I had ever seen began to sing.

The creature was easily 20 feet long, and had to weigh as much as a truck. It was slowly paddling into shore, singing in what sounded like Hawaiian in a deep, slow, melodic voice. I was entranced, holding on to Harry as he stood on his tiptoes.

"My God," I whispered. "That can't be natural."

"David, it's magic. We need to leave," Libra said firmly. "We shouldn't be here."

"Mum the turtles just saying hi, can't you hear it?" Harry demanded. "It sounds like its saying hello like we were taught by the Tutu Man."

The Tutu man's real name was Arthur Kameāloha, more commonly known as the Tutu Man to the children at Hanalei school. He came and taught some native hawaiian language and phrases a few times a quarter, and was loved for his old stories of hawaiian culture.

"You can understand it, Harry?" I demanded.

"Sort of. It's also kind of like when Buttercup would talk to me, but not really." Harry hissed at the turtle, which paused in its song. It continued to swim forward until it was nearly at the beach, calling out in a low, basso warble.

"Yeah, I don't like this, we need to go," I said, pulling Harry away. I turned around and froze. An old woman in a robe with a long staff and a fan made of colorful feathers was coming down the trail.

"Are you lost, travelers?" she said in a kindly tone. "You look lost. You should not be here."

I dragged Harry towards Libra, who was frozen with eyes huge in fear. I grabbed her and pushed her towards the jeep.

"Yep, just a few lost travelers. We'll just be leaving now."

Behind us, the turtle started singing again. Harry turned around and waved to the turtle. Once more, he hissed at it, and the turtle splashed its fins, calling out again in that weird warble.

"Ah, I see. Your child has mana," the old woman said. "He must have lead you down here. He is not yet ready yet, but-" she paused as Harry stuck his head around me. Her eyes grew wide. "Harry Potter," she whispered. "You are a child of Great Mana."

"Are you a wizard?" Harry whispered.

I tucked Harry behind me. "Harry don't be silly, magic doesn't exist. Yes. I am very lost, I think I left the oven on. Come on, let's go make sure it's fine or something."

"But dad, you know magic is real. You gave me Buttercup so I could talk to her," Harry whined.

The old woman raised her fan, and the door to the jeep jerked out of my hand and slammed shut. "Perhaps you are not as lost as I thought. Elder Honu recognizes you."

"David we have to get out of here," Libra said in a panicked tone. "What if she hurts the children?"

"I am not here to hurt you," the old woman declared. "I am Akeakamai Kaʻiminaʻauao, Kahuna of the Kingdom of Hawaii. I see you, Harry Potter. Though you are not of the blood, you have breath. Tell me, who are these people with you?"

"My dad and mum, David and Libra Murphy. I'm Harry Potter Murphy now too. This is baby Sarah, she's still little but she's my baby sister," Harry said. "Are you a wizard?"

"You would call me a witch," Akeakamai said. "Though here on this island we are both kahuna, though you perhaps are too young to take the title yet. So, you are supposed to be with these haoli?"

"I'm haoli too," Harry said. "All the kids at school call me haoli boy. My dad is Mr. Haloi."

"That's very nice, but we should go," I said, putting my hand on the jeep door. "We're supposed to be in hiding, not talking to strange witches or kahuna or whatever."

"Peace, muggle," Akeakamai said. She waved her fan, and a jet of light sprang out and hit me.

I stepped forward. "Oh, you don't want to do that. I'm, er, a big kahuna too."

Akeakamai's eyes grew wide at seeing her spell had no effect on me. Then they narrowed. "If you are a wizard, where is your wand? You sound like a mainlander, and I do not recognize you from

Ka Hale o ka Mana."

"I'm so special I don't need a wand," I said. "Now let us depart. We don't want any trouble. Sorry we bothered honu. Didn't realize this was a magic beach."

"Hmm. You I think perhaps, are the ones Dumbledore spoke of," Akeakamai said slowly. "I think we must talk."

"That old bastard," I said through gritted teeth. "He wasn't supposed to tell anyone!"

"Oh, he did not say you would be here," Akeakamai said, waving her hand in the air. "Only asked me if any would would side with that foolish Flight of Death man lived here. I told Albus that was nonsense. Your blood is important, but it is not what gives you breath, what makes your mana strong. Many kahuna have come from the haoli, both those of the blood and those from other lines. He wondered if my island would be safe for young Harry, and I assured him Hawaii was a safe place for all kekkei."

Libra looked at me nervously, then looked back to the witch. "What do you want of us?"

"Why to talk story," Akeakamai declared. "And to know why Elder Honu was so eager to share his song for you. I have not seen him come to those not of the blood for decades."

I glanced back at the turtle, who had drug itself up onto the beach behind us in a disturbingly silent fashion. "Giant turtles still just eat seaweed and jellyfish, right? Not trespassing haolis?"

"Elder Honu has no desire to eat you. But please, sit. I would know what brings you to this island, and if you bring trouble with you."

Libra and I shared the "can we trust her?" look. I shrugged. "Do we have a choice?"

Libra nodded at sat, and Sarah chose that moment to spot Akeakamai and giggle, waving her pudgy arms as she tried to get to the old woman.

"A beautiful child. May I see her?" Akeakamai asked us.

Libra held her out, but didn't let go. I tensed, ready to defend my daughter by any means necessary.

Akeakamai studied the child, then suddenly pressed her thumb on Sarah's forehead. Her eyes suddenly glowed, and her breath seemed to condense into a glowing blue fog.

"What did you do?" Libra demanded, jerking Sarah back into her arms. Sarah began to cry, sensing the tension in the air.

The old woman pursed her lips, studying us. "Your child has mana as well. Perhaps as not as much as your older son, but she has breath. You are not what you seem. Are you both haoli?"

"We've no magic," Libra spat. "Though my husband is very good and beating it."

"But you are the child of magic, are you not?" Akeakamai prodded. "One born without breath to those who have it, yes?"

Libra glared back, finally growling, "Yes."

"Ah. Well, the gods smile upon you. Your daughter is blessed with mana. She will grow to become a kahuna."

Libra and I shared a shocked look. I put my arm around Libra, and she clutched Sarah close. "That is...good," Libra said. "Yes. I am glad for her."

A wide smile grew on Akeakamai's face. "I am glad to hear that. Many haoli do not adjust well to finding out their children will become kahuna, especially if they themselves come from a family of the breath."

"So what's up with the giant turtle?" I asked. "I've seen plenty of honu, gone swimming with them at Punalu'u plenty of times, but I ain't never heard one sing."

"Elder Honu is a demigod," Akeakamai answered with a shrug. "He is one of the first born. How old he is, I know not, but he was born at the same time as this island rose from the sea, or so the legend says. He is the son of the First Honu and his lover, the Ocean. His song is the song of the waves and life."

"Wait, so there are gods?" Libra demanded. "I thought there was only one God."

"There are many gods, but perhaps only one God," Akeakamai answered. "If you speak of the christian God. I have heard of him, perhaps he is the father of all. I know not. My gods are enough for me."

"So are like, Zeus and Odin and stuff real too?" I asked, really confused by this.

Akeakamai rolled her eyes. "Dealing with the gods of these islands is enough for me. Though I believe the kahuna of your lands have mostly killed or imprisoned their gods. If you wish to know of them you will need to consult one of their priests and wizards. I can only tell you of the spirits of these islands."

Harry looked at me with a puzzled expression. "So what does that mean about Jesus? Did wizards kill him?"

"That one was killed by haoli, boy," Akeakamai said. "Too many gods of these islands have had the same fate befall them. As has nearly happened to Elder Honu. Ah, I see why he came to this shore. Another net. Filthy things."

Akeakamai walked over to the turtle, and for the first time I noticed that one of his fins was covered in a large nylon fishing net. With a few jabs of her staff and jets of magic, the hawaiian witch freed the great sea turtle. The turtle nodded it's thanks, but didn't go anywhere. Instead, Elder Honu closed his eyes, laying his head down on the sand to bask.

"I wish I could do something about that," I said sadly. "In a few years, the coral will start bleaching. The Great Barrier Reef goes first, then the reefs around these islands."

Libra elbowed me in my gut, and I flinched. Crap, there went me and my big mouth again.

Akeakamai turned to me, eyeing me oddly. "Are you a seer, David?"

"Yes," I said quickly. "Not much good at other kinds of magic, but I'm a top notch seer."

"That is very strange," Akeakamai said, but shrugged. "But that again, I know little of how the kahuna of other lands train their people, or what gifts are given. Tell me, where did you go to school?"

"I didn't, though Dumbledore helped me out a bit when he found me while I was living in England. One of my, er, visions told me about Harry and stuff."

"Hmmm," Akeakamai examined Honu, and I saw that the turtle's skin was full of sores and pustules. He looked sick now that I was looking at him, and I walked up to the turtle, examining him.

"He get tired a lot?" I asked.

Akeakamai looked at me, then nodded. "He does seem weary of late."

"What about food? He always eating?"

"Indeed. His hunger seems to know no bounds."

"Then I'm willing to bet he's got nearly a ton of plastic in his gut," I pronounced. "That's a real problem with sea life. If you had a way of clearing all the junk out of him, I bet he'd feel a lot better."

"I do not know," Akeakamai said slowly. "We have never looked inside of him. We have, of course, tried to treat his sores and remove the nets from him, but we have not thought to examine the inside of a living turtle."

"Don't know how you'd do it with such a big one," I said, shrugging. "Still. I hate to see it. Personally we try and avoid plastic bags and such, but there's not a whole lot we can do personally. I know the folks at NOAA and UH Hilo might be able to help you out with that. Well, assuming any of them are clued in to the fact that giant magic turtles exist."

Akeakamai nodded, stroking the gently snoring turtles snout. "I thank you for your advise, seer. I will consult with the other kahuna. Perhaps we can aid Elder Honu, and perhaps save our coral reefs as well."

"We'll just be going then," Libra said, quickly walking over to the jeep. "Good luck with your turtle."

"Bye Auntie!" Harry said, waving as he climbed into the jeep. "We'll come back and say hi to Uncle Honu sometime!"

"Aloha and mahalo, Murphy family," Akeakamai said. "I will see you again soon, I think."

"I bloody well hope not," Libra muttered.

I put the jeep into gear and we made our way back up the hill. Once we were out into the road, I shivered. "Well, that was bracing eh? Reminds me just how freaking weird this world is."

"I liked it," Harry proclaimed. "We should go back sometime and listen to Uncle Honu sing. He was nice."

I shared a look with Libra, who was still looking very upset over the whole situation. "Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing," I said quietly. "He's got to learn at some point. And so does Sarah."

Libra's face flushed with anger for a moment, then, she took a deep breath. "You're right. They're our children, and we have to love all of them."

"Warts, magic, and all," I agreed.

After the run in with Akeakamai and Honu the Singing Turtle, I finally buckled down and wrote Dumbledore a letter. I'd been avoiding it like the plague, for the simple reason that ignoring my problems made me feel at least a little bit like they might just go away, but obviously that wasn't going to work. However, I'd learned my lesson from last time, and got a PO Box in Hilo. That was close enough to check once a month or so, and far enough away that I wasn't worried about homicidal wizards managing to search the whole damn island and find us.

 _Dear Brian,_

 _It's been awhile since you've heard from us, so sorry about that. I hope your little treasure hunt is going well. Our family is doing quite well, and has grown by a new member, a little girl. She takes after her big brother, so you might see her in school someday too._

 _We ran into a friend of yours the other day, Akeakamai at Elder Honu's beach. It was a bit odd, since she recognized my son and daughter for what they were even if they're still kids. Apparently, you can't run from your problems forever even in Hawaii. Other than that little surprise though, things are going very well._

 _There is one thing I hadn't mentioned before that you should know. Barty Crouch's boy isn't dead. I'm pretty sure he's supposed to have expired in prison, but word on the street his his mother took his place before he died. Junior is probably hiding out in his father's home, well hidden and looked after by their domestic, who I believe is named Winky. Either way, just might way to keep an eye out for that one, as he was a good friend of Tom and kinda sorta maybe would help him come back in a big way if he could._

 _Aloha,_

 _Dave_

 _PS: Write back to this address. I check it once a month or so._

Of course, no sooner had I written the letter then things got even more interesting.

"Hey brah, nice mark you go on you forehead."

We were shopping at KTA in Hilo, and Harry was picking out some snacks when a local looking guy in board shorts and a t-shirt walked up to him.

"Um, thanks?" Harry said, looking at the guy then to Libra.

The man lowered his sunglasses squinting. "Hey, you dat Harry Pottah boy?"

Libra quickly interposed herself. "You have something to say to my son?"

"Shoots, I just talkin' story. My Auntie Mai, she say keep an eye out for dis kid yeah? He maybe go to da school someday right?"

"I already go to school," Harry said in a very unhelpful manner. "I'm in second grade now!"

The man laughed. "Nah, not dem haoli school brah, da kine school, you know." He pulled a somewhat bedraggled feather fan out of his pocket. "You know, dis kine school."

"Yeah maybe this isn't the time or place to talk about this?" I said, pulling Harry and Libra away. "You know, the haoli's are about and they don't need to know?"

"I gotchu brah," the man said, nodding. "You live around here? Maybe we talk story sometime. My auntie, she tell me about da Flying Death guy. Bad news dat. I could mebbe help da boy out, you know?"

"And what do you know about fighting dark wizards?" Libra hissed.

The man's grin became wide and goofy. "Shoots brah, dey no make me an auror fo' nothin', yeah?"

As it turned out, Ikaika Kaʻiminaʻauao was, in fact, an auror, though he prefered to just be called Kai.

"Hawaii not a place you get many dark wizards," he told us at Ken's twenty minutes later. "Sorry 'bout da act. I mebbe talk like da local boys bit too much. Helps me fit in though right and proppa. I promise, I'm not as dumb as I talk. Well, most o da time anyways."

"You can teach me to fight bad guys?" Harry demanded.

"You to young to be doing that brah," Kai told Harry. "I can teach you how to stay safe. That's different."

"I know karate. Sensi Jim taught me," Harry declared.

"Karate plenty good for starters," Kai said, nodding as he took a large bite of mac salad. He chewed for a moment, thinking. "But what you know about magic, huh?"

"I can talk to snakes," Harry said proudly.

Kai scratched his chin. "Eh, that could be OK I guess, but not much use here. Not many snakes."

"We know he's going to have some dark wizards after him eventually. Do you have some sort of immigration policy that would keep them away?" I asked.

Kai shrugged. "They come the magic way, we stop them sure. But they hop on a plane like a haoli or take a boat? Not so much. Not enough of us to keep track of all that."

"What is the magic way?" Libra asked. "I know there are ways to go between the continents magically, but I never learned what they were."

"Well, there a couple ways to come to Hawaii," Kai told us. "First, you ride on an airship. Those go to O'ahu and here to the Big Island. They get disguised as clouds, come in every couple days or so."

"I've never seen them," I said.

Kai shrugged. "You'd have to have plenty good eyes to see them brah. But maybe you come up to Kohala on the windward side you see them. Other way is by boat. These days, those all run underwater like da submarines. They dock at all the islands, here at Honopue in Kohala again."

"Isn't that somewhere between Ponolu'u and Waimanu valley?" I asked.

Kai grinned and nodded. "Yeah, you been there?"

"Kinda. Not on the magical side of things. I went camping," I told him.

"Yeah, sometimes haoli come through, but they pretty blind most of the time."

"Is that where the school is?" Libra asked. "Hale o Mana or something like that?"

"Ka Hale o ka Mana," Kai informed her. "The largest and onlyest school of magic in Hawaii."

"Cool," Harry said, his eyes big. "Can we go there?"

"You a bit young for that. Don't start the kekkei until they 12," Kai informed him. "But hey, mebbe we take you there sometime huh? Convince you to come here instead of that english school."

"How would Ka Hale o ka Mana be better than Hogwarts?" Libra asked. "It's one of the Great Wizarding Schools. I've never heard of this one."

Kai snorted, and as he talked his pigeon accent vanished, replaced by a very light accent. "Ka Hale o ka Mana IS one of the Great Wizarding schools, though only because we made a stink at the ICW. You should know they're a bunch of Eurocentric elitists. They're the same idiots who decided everybody need to follow their stupid 'Statue of Secrecy' despite the fact that in a lot of places, like Hawaii, haoli had no problem with the kahuna. Hell, the first and greatest king of these islands was a powerful Kahuna himself, better than than idiot Merlin at least."

"Kamehameha the Great was a wizard?" I asked, incredulous.

"He was a man of great Mana. All the stories say so, even the haoli ones," Kai said with a shrug. "Unlike most wizards, he even embraced haoli ways. He armed his troops with cannon and muskets as well as wands and staves. By the time the ICW started to make a stink about how he was running things, he'd conquered all the islands and wiped everyone's memories, and was able to claim he'd done it with just haoli weapons."

"That's something I never considered," Libra admitted. "I just thought all muggles hated wizards and witches, no matter where they were from."

"No, only muggles who got kicked around by wizards who got too big for their britches hated witches and wizards," Kai said. "You think those european witch hunts started for no reason? There were an awful lot of folks back then who got their kicks from hexing muggles that annoyed them and refusing to help. When the kahuna serves the people, then they like and respect them."

"So do the native hawaiians still know about magic?" I asked.

"No. Most of them do not," Kai said, his tone regretful. "We could do a lot of good on these islands. My Auntie Mai, she told me you were a seer. Said we gonna have a lot of dead animals and some bleached coral. Wish we could do more about that, but the ICW would crack down on us hard if they found out."

"But you will help, right?" Harry asked, his expression hopeful.

Kai winked at him. "We just maybe do it so the mainlanders don't catch wind of it, eh brah?"

After dinner, we agreed to meet with Kai again to talk about Harry's future.

"I'm not sold that he doesn't need to go back to Hogwarts," I said. "But it would be nice to have a back up plan."

"I live here in Hilo town," Kai told me. "Here's my address." He handed me a card that said, "Ikaika Investigations. Lost Objects Found, Surveillance, Legal Findings."

"Huh. I thought auror's just hunted dark wizards," I observed.

"Like I said brah, not to many of those round here. I'm one of six aurors on the Big Island. One on each other island, 'cept for O'ahu where they got a dozen. Mostly to police the idiot tourists honestly. Even for wizards, Hawaii is still paradise. Later."

We waved goodbye, and Kai hopped onto a motorcycle and took off, roaring into the twilight.

"Huh. Well, he didn't seem so bad," I said.

Libra nodded slowly. "He didn't. It's still scary to know he could toss us around like a rag doll, but maybe wizards are different here."

"Nah. People are the same everywhere. I'm sure they've got some rotten ones here too. Still, the Spirit of Aloha is alive and well."

"I liked Uncle Kai," Harry proclaimed. "I want to see his school. I bet it's awesome."

Libra and I shared a look, and then we nodded to one another.

"Yes," she said. "That sounds like a good idea."


	19. Chapter 19

With two weeks of Summer Vacation 1988 left, we made plans with Kai to visit Ka Hale o ka Mana. We drove to Pololu Lookout and Parked the jeep. I strapped Sarah onto my back, and we hiked down the trail. When we reached the bottom, we hiked across the black sand beach and found Kai and Akeakamai waiting for us.

"Aloha, Murphy family," Akeakamai said, nodding to us. She was still dressed in a traditional robe and bore a staff and feather wand. Kai looked like he'd just come out of the surf, and by the surf board set into the sand a few feet away, that was probably exactly what he'd done.

"Hi uncle, hi auntie," Harry said, waving. "Are we going to get to see some magic?"

"Of course brah," Kai said, winking at us. "Ain't no other way to get up to da school."

"Um, I might have a problem with that," I said. "I er, have a hard time with transportation spells."

"That is well, for I planned on taking the more scenic route," Akeakamai said. "Come. There are mules for us to ride."

Kai and I walked while the ladies and kids saddled up on mules and started up the trail. I put my backpack with my water filter, matches, compass, shortwave radio, first aid kit, gallon of water, trail mix, jerky, and baby food, and machete on a mule.

"You planning on stay here?" Kai asked, hefting the pack. "This pretty heavy brah."

"Eagle scout," I told him. "Be prepared."

Kai laughed. "Ha! I had to chase a troop off last week. They got a bit too close to the entrance of the school. Had to get the menehune to help me."

"So are those like, little people or something?" I asked. "Like, goblins or something?"

"Oof. Don't call them that, brah. They hate it. You'll see soon enough."

We hiked up the trail to the top of the ridge line, which took a good 40 minutes even with the mules. Once there, we hiked along the trail towards the next valley over, passing a few hikers as we did so. None of them seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary, which was good I supposed. However, as we approached the next valley, I looked up and over the ocean and gasped.

"My God. The Weatherlight? You people ride literal flying boats across the ocean?" I pointed out over the water, to where a large wooden ship seemed to be flying through the air. Instead of sails though, it had large fins along the side and no masts. What kept it up I don't know, but it looked exactly what I'd always imagined the Skyship Weatherlight to look like.

"Where?" Harry asked, peering around.

"Your father just has good eyes, love," Libra told Harry. "We just see a bit of cloud."

Kai and Akeakamai looked at me with sudden interest. "What? Can't you see it too?" I demanded.

"The ships have powerful enchantments upon that that make all who look upon them believe they see only clouds, Mr. Murphy," Akeakamai informed me.

"Well, what about cameras?"

"Had some trouble with that," Kai admitted. "But mostly people just see clouds. Me, I know in my head that's an airship, but it still just looks like a cloud."

"Oh." Crap, I guess whatever enchantment it was only worked on a mental level instead of bending light or whatever, and thus didn't seem to affect me at all.

"You must be possessed of the true sight," Akeakamai said, nodding her head. "It is part of being a seer."

"I'll make sure to let you know if I have any pressing visions," I said. "Though I don't tend to see much in tea leaves and smoke."

"A mark of a true seer," the old woman mused. "Some try to force visions to spread their power, and perform strange rituals. But in my experience, one who has vision is not in control of when they come, or what they see, and often they do not even understand or remember their visions. How many, I wonder, have been lost because there was no one around to interpret or write down what will come to pass?"

"I mostly see stuff I can't do crap about anyway," I grumbled. "Like, how much good is it going to do anyone to know that two wackos are going to shoot up a school in Colorado some time in the next decade but not remember their damn names?"

"If you could change the future, your visions would not be true," Akeakamai said calmly. "Come. The entrance is in the next valley."

We went down once more into the narrow valley, but instead of proceeding up the next ridge, we followed the path of the stream down a hidden trail. Akeakamai had to do something to Libra to allow her to see it, but left Harry, Sarah and I alone. Not that Sarah was going anywhere, as she was sleeping in Libra's arms.

As we went up the stream, I started to feel eyes on the back of my head. I looked around, but didn't see anything. Still, every so often out of the corner of my eye I thought I would see movement in the undergrowth. I told myself it was just a bird or a mongoose, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

"Hey, Kai, are the menehune following us?" I whispered to him as we made our way up the trail.

He nodded, keeping his eyes forward. "Yeah, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you can tell. You got some weird things going on brah. I thought you was just a haoli, but you keep surprising me."

"Life would be easier if I was just a haoli," I muttered. "But what fun would that be?"

We came around a bend, and the mules halted. In front of us was what I could have sworn was a kokiri from Zelda. They were small, plant like little creatures that wore odd masks in the shape of faces. None of them were more than two feet tall, and those were ones that looked vaguely koa tree like. The others were smaller, some in the shape of a hapu fern or ohia and other plants I didn't know the name of.

"Aloha, little cousins," Akeakamai said, raising her hand in greeting.

One of the koa tree like menehune stepped forward, it's mask shaped like a smiling maiden with rosey cheeks. "Aloha, honored eldar. Who do you bring through our forest today?"

I had to stifle a giggle. They sounded like the Chipmunks.

"This is the Murphy family," Akeakamai said, dismounting from her mule and squatting down so she was closer to the menehune's level. "David, Libra, and their children Harry and Sarah."

"This one has no mana," the koa girl said, pointing to Libra. Then she pointed to me. "And this one is not here at all. What is he?"

"I'm just a regular guy," I told the creature, getting down on one knee myself. "I promise I'm actually here. I have no clue if astral projection is even a thing."

The little creature stepped forward, holding out a stubby arm. I hesitantly held out my own hand, palm outward. The menehune touched me, then jerked back, the slowly reached out at ran her hand over mine. It didn't look like a hand really, more like a vine or tendrel of a plant with shoots on it.

"You are here," she said, the solemnity of her tone totally ruined by how high pitched it was. "And yet you are not of here."

"I'm from the mainland," I clarified. "My wife and son are from Britain, but our daughter was born here on the Big Island."

"You are not from the mainland," the menehune stated. "You are not from anywhere, are you?"

"Well I obviously came from somewhere," I said somewhat testily. "Otherwise how could I be here?"

"I do not know. The Great Mother would know. We shall ask her." And with that, the menehune scattered. I saw now why I had not been able to see them before. Their masks were all carved of wood and painted with muted natural colors, and they blended in perfectly with the rest of the plants. When the mask turned away from you, they looked like flowers or leaves, not faces, their shapes easily lost in the foliage.

"Well that was weird," I muttered, standing up and dusting off my hands.

"Yes," Akeakamai said, studying me. "Combined with what Elder Honu had to say about you, Mr. Murphy, this only deepens the mystery that surrounds you and your family."

"My husband is an open book, Akeakamai," Libra said. "He is not terribly hard to figure out, like most men. You only need to feed him and bed him, and he is easy enough to lead along."

Our guides both laughed at this, and Harry grinned at me. Kid didn't even know what was so funny.

"Hey, I'm more complicated than that," I protested. "I also like books and stuff."

Libra raised her eyebrows at me, and I flushed and shrugged. "Ok, so I like to eat and I like you more. Let's just go to the super magic school for the parent teacher night yeah?"

We continued along the trail for another half an hour. I never was certain if I saw another menehune, but I could still feel the eyes of the forest watching us. We finally came to another trail, this one up the side of Kohala, the old (probably) extinct volcano that formed the north side of the Big Island. It took us over an hour to get up the trail, and by the end of it I was pretty winded. However, when we reached the top, I could only stare in utter amazement.

Ka Hale o ka Mana was set on the slope of Kohala, in a large, somewhat flat plane about 10 acres in size that was a rough oval. The school itself was literally grown out of a huge koa tree, one that towered at least 500 feet into the air and made a red wood look like kindling for how thick it was. The tree was spread over at least two acres itself, but its branches extended even further. I could see entrances carved into the living wood, or possibly it just grew that way? I wasn't sure.

Around the base of the tree were more buildings, these not more than two or three stories, along with open fields where I saw people flying about on brooms in some and others where patches of taro and other crops were being grown.

"Wow!" Harry said, standing up on the back of the mule. "Mum, dad, this is awesome! Can I come here?"

"Maybe," I allowed, looking around. "This certainly seems more inviting than a drafty old castle. Hey, do you guys have Slytherins around here?"

Kai looked confused, but Akeakamai shook her head. "We do not have houses at this school. Students are grouped by year, and the older ones by their chosen path in what profession they seek."

"Hey, no group of wannabe minions and sith! Libra, this place checks out," I said, grinning at my wife.

She nodded slowly, looking around with a somewhat sad, wistful expression on her face. "Yes. It is incredible. It would be perfect for Harry. And...and for our daughter."

Sarah for her part picked that moment to wake up again, and start crying. I took her out of the sling on Libra's back, and handed her over. "There somewhere private we can go? Baby's a bit hungry," I said.

"Yes, let us go up to the school and get some pupus," Akeakamai said. "There are private rooms there you may use to refresh yourselves."

It had been a long morning, so we were more than happy to sit down to a meal together. Libra joined us after nursing Sarah, and we had a meal of Poi, rice, and fish with some of the staff on hand. Akeakamai introduced us to the headmaster, who turned out be be her sister in law, Iolana Kaʻiminaʻauao. There were also a couple of teachers as well as older students who were working on summer projects.

"This school was originally founded 500 years ago by the chiefs of Hawaii," Iolana told us. "It was created as a way for kahuna from all over polynesia to come together and train after the founding of the Statute of Secrecy."

"I hear that isn't super popular with a lot of local wizards," I said. "I thought it was a sort of mutual international pact."

"Not at all," Edward Ford said. He was the charms professor, and was an older caucasian man with a neat grey beard and spectacles. "I'm sad to say it, but my ancestors essentially forced the Statue apon a lot of peoples who had no interest in it, including Hawaii. In many places those with magic got along fine with the haoli, were even kings or priests. However, because the European and Asian wizards had the largest populations and had organized themselves first, they were able to impose their will globally."

"In the end, we were forced to choose between war and accepting the dictates of the ICW," Akeakamai said. "After much talk, our chiefs decided that they would rather have peace than a bloody war. Some peoples chose differently. That is one reason Australia was so barren of civilization and life. The aboriginal shaman refused to join the ICW, and were exterminated, their peoples memories destroyed. The same happened to some of the tribes in North and South America."

"As if I needed another reason to mistrust the wizards of my homeland," Libra said, shaking her head. "They were always controlling and brutal it seems."

"They had good reason," Iolana said gently. "They were persecuted by the Christians, many killed before they even realized what they were. Their reaction was extreme, but understandable."

Libra and I both looked embarrassed, but Harry, being six, didn't have the sense to keep his mouth shut. "But I thought Christians were the good guys. We're Christians, we go to church every Sunday and pray and stuff."

"Christians are all lolo," one of the older students said. "My friend was a haoli christian, they found out about me and had to be obliviated. Said I had the devil in me."

"But Jesus said to love your neighbor, not kill them," Harry said, sounding confused.

The older student opened their mouth, but Iolana held up her hand. "Peace, Keone. He is young. Life will teach him the lessons he needs. Not all who call themselves Christian are evil, just as not all who have mana are good. Plenty of kahuna tortured and abused haoli. The Christians did not fear their witches without good cause. There was much evil done on both sides."

"Sadly, my religion has been used as a tool for evil by those who who saw faith only as a tool to get what they want," I said. "I'm well aware of the evils that have been done in the name of God, and can only say that Jesus himself called those who would do evil in his name the worst kind of people imaginable. But I'd actually rather talk about the education program here. How's it different than Hogwarts?"

"We focus far more on a naturalistic approach to magic," Iolana said. "The English focus far more on wand disciplines and changing the natural order to suit themselves. We teach far more on how to find what you need in the order of nature. While an English wizard might transfigure a chair from a block of wood, we would teach you how to help that block of wood grow into something that would desire to be sat upon."

"What about combat magic?" I asked. "Kai's an auror who was trained here, so you have to learn some of that."

Iolana made a disgusted face. "We learn defense of course, spells to bind and hold, to hide you and to help you escape. But warfare is not something we teach at my school."

"I got my auror training at Mahoutokoro," Kai supplied. "The basics are taught here, but for anyone really serious about fighting and defense, you need some outside expertise. Sensi Hoshido was the top ranked duelist in the world for 5 years, and while I won't claim to be his best student, he taught me some tricks."

I shared a look with Libra, and she reluctantly shook her head.

"I'm afraid that Harry is going to require a great deal of instruction in defense, and offense," Libra said. "As some of you may know, his parents were killed by a self styled Dark Lord, and we have reason to believe that man is still alive."

"He's going to come for Harry," I said quietly, putting my arm around Harry's shoulder and squeezing. "There was a prophecy, and he put a great deal of stock in it."

"Ah, unfortunate," Edward said, shaking his head. "Prophecies are fickle things. I suppose it predicted some great doomed conflict?"

"Something like that," I said. "But the point is, someone very good at killing is going to make a beeline for Harry just as soon as he can find him, and unfortunately no one can hide forever."

"Hogwarts may serve you well then," Iolana said reluctantly. "Dumbledore is a wise and powerful wizard, even if his health has been failing recently."

"What?" I said, my heart skipping a beat. "How?"

"He is old," Akeakamai said with a shrug. "Nearly 110. That is old even for our kind. He has been quietly withdrawing from public life, sticking to his school. Rumor has it he has fallen ill, though he continues his duty has Headmaster of Hogwarts."

If that old bastard had been stupid enough to take up that ring after I warned him, so help me, I would kill him before he died of whatever the hell kind of curse that had been.

"That is unfortunate," I said through gritted teeth. "If the old man dies, I don't think Hogwarts will be safe. Maybe we'll have to move to Japan."

"Not a great idea if you don't plan on learning any Japanese brah," Kai said with a laugh. "I'm a quarter jap myself and speak the lingo fluently, but even I had a hard time. The Japanese, they're a bit reclusive. I only got in because my tutu knew someone in their government. Even someone famous like Harry Potter would have a hard time."

"Fantastic," I said with a sigh. "What about the schools on the mainland?"

"There are several of course," Iolana said. "Iverymourn is famous as one of the Great 11, but the Kachina Sonora is a good school as well, as is the Texas Institute of Magic."

"Bet they even teach you how to shoot in Texas," I muttered to myself.

"Yeah brah, they hardcore there," Kai agreed. "Their aurors, they carry special guns with magic bullets. Go right through a lot of shield spells."

"Well shoot, that sounds like my kind of folks, even if I ain't from Texas myself," I mused.

"I would still advise you to come here first," Iolana said. "Give Harry a firm grounding in the true purpose of magic, and when he is older and ready to defend himself, he can go to one of these other schools. Ikaika and others would be able to teach him more advanced arts if needed."

"I like that idea the best myself," Libra said. "Though it is long to decide yet. Harry is turning seven next week, and it is many years before he is ready for a wand."

"Yes, worry about the future later. Come, we have much to show you," Iolana said, standing from the table. "I always enjoy showing new students and their ohana around the school."

I have to say, the rest of the school was even more impressive than the outside was. There were many levels of the great koa tree, and you could climb up stairs or take elevators to chambers within it. There were classrooms that glowed with bioluminescent fungus at the roots of the tree, others in the open air hundreds of feet above the ground. I was super nervous going out onto those I confess, as I am not fond of heights in the least. After the second one, I actually had to sit down with Sarah and just hold her for a while with everyone else kept exploring.

"Come on dad, we're going to the top of the tree!" Harry shouted down at me.

"I'm OK, go on without me," I said, feeling faint at just the thought of standing on top of a 500 foot tall tree. I bounced Sarah on my shoulder, where she happily giggled and burped on the towel I'd put there for just such a purpose.

Later, Harry regaled me with how far you could see, how the tree swayed in the wind, and how far down the ground was. I am certain the little stinker did it on purpose. I almost felt like burping into that towel myself.

The next part though was really fascinating. They took us around the grounds, where a number of magical plants were growing. I saw ohia trees with flowers that burned like the tears of Pele, orchids that sang as the stars came out, and squash that were purple and tasted like laughy taffy. That didn't even go into the carnivorous vines that ate mongoose and cats, or the menehune themselves which turned out to grow from seed pods on special trees.

We ended up spending the night in one of the student dorms, which was empty for the summer. Like Hogwarts, Ka Hale o ka Mana was a boarding school. Some students who lived on the Big Island flew home on brooms or kites at the end of the day, but most were from other islands (some as far away as the Philippines) and thus lived at the school throughout the year.

Sarah went down fast, and Harry followed soon after. Once they were snoring softly, I got up and walked over to Libra's bed, laying down next to her. She snuggled up against me, and I put my arms around her waist.

"What do you think?" I asked. "This seems like a good place for Harry, all things considered."

"I agree, but I'm not certain yet it's the best place," Libra whispered. "England is still my home, and his."

"My home is where you are," I told her. "We do need to confront the monsters in our past, but do we have to do it so soon?"

"I don't know," Libra sighed, rolling over and looking me in the eye. "Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of the age. Him training Harry may give our son his best chance for survival."

"I hate to say it, but Snape is no slouch either. Even if he is a giant tool."

"That man," Libra growled. "He is everything wrong with the wizarding world."

"Would you believe he was raised muggle?"

"No? With his attitude?"

"Yep. Called himself the half blood prince. Got beaten by daddy though, and hates everything muggle as near as I can tell."

Libra made a disgusted noise. "Pathetic. Taking that anger out on children. It makes me sick."

"Yeah. But this place… it's pretty wonderful. All that focus on growing things, on learning about the world and welcoming everyone...it's pretty wonderful. I actually don't mind the wizards and witches we've met here. Even if they call themselves kahuna."

"This place is wonderful," Libra agreed, stroking her hand over my bare chest. It tickled a bit, especially since my chest is very hairy. "I don't know David. The future seems so uncertain."

I ran my own fingers through Libra's hair, which was in a bob cut now. "Tell me about it. I thought I knew everything that was going to happen, but I didn't even know this place existed until we came here. I might have come from a future, but what I know seems pretty useless now."

"It saved Harry, and brought us together," Libra said. "It can't be all bad."

I was forced to agree, as she picked that time to kiss me, then roll on top of me. Thankfully, we didn't wake the kids. As parents, we'd had to get sneaky about our alone time. Somehow though, that almost made it more fun.

We left the next morning with Kai and Akeakamai, riding back to the jeep at Pololu. We didn't see any menehune on our way back, but it was pleasant all the same. We thanked our guides, then let Harry play in the surf for a half an hour before getting in the jeep and starting the long drive home. Part of me hoped we'd return, but I knew that no matter how wonderful it was, Ka Hale o ka Mana would never be a place for me. We'd met a few squibs who lived in the nearby village, but I could tell Libra still wasn't completely comfortable there. I wondered, would I be alright with Harry staying away from home?

Probably not. Voldemort was still out there, and someday, he was going to come a knockin'.


	20. Chapter 20

Harry's seventh birthday party came, and once again we had a beach side bash. Somehow, even more kids came to this one, and we cooked burgers and ate "crisps," as Libra referred to them, in the sun. Harry got a banana cake once more, though this time I'd had to make an epically large sheet cake in the school ovens. He got what he really wanted, which was a pet dog. We named the puppy Padfoot as a joke. It was just a mixed mut with brown and white fur, but I thought it was hilarious anyway.

Another year, another batch of students, but I confess, my brain was elsewhere for the first week of school. I ended up finding every excuse to go to Hilo, waiting on a reply from Dumbledore. It took until the middle of September for it to arrive however, which only made sense as it was just snail mail. Made me wish we could use email, but that hadn't even been invented yet and I doubted Dumbledore could fax.

" _Dear David,_

 _Congratulations on the birth of your daughter. May she grow into a fine young woman. I hope she and your son get along well, and bring each other strength and joy. My own sibling relations have been filled with sorrow due to the choices I have made in life, and I wish that your own family is far wiser than mine was._

 _I am familiar with Mai, we worked together for many years at the ICW. Recently however, I have retired from that position. I have needed to focus on some of the things we have discussed, and it has taken up a great deal of my time and energy._

 _I do have good news for you. Of the objects you informed me of, three are now destroyed. Two elude me still, and one I am certain has not yet been made, and perhaps never will be. Keep an eye out for the Cup, Diary, and serpent. As you predicted, they proved to be very hazardous. You may have heard a rumor I am ill. I confess I started it, but it is not true. I did avoid the fate you mentioned, and am in as good health as a man of my age can expect to be._

 _I appreciate your notice on the status of Junior. He was found, tried, and returned to prison. His father, sadly, killed himself upon the revelation that he had failed in his duty. It saddens me that an old friend and ally acted thusly, but I can understand the love for a son, even if mine are all only children that teaching brings us._

 _It may comfort you to know that Mr. Black is much recovered. His mind is in a far better, healthier place. He received your letter and delivered it to me. I have informed him that I do not know your location, and would not tell him if I did. He has accepted this, and while he tends toward dark humour these days, when next you meet I hope it will be on happier terms. One day I think he will be a great ally for yourself and your son in whatever challenges you may face._

 _The same can be said of Severus. I confronted him about his very rude behavior towards your family, and forced him to take a year long sabbatical. He has returned to me a much improved teacher and man. He is still prone to harshness, but some of the bitterness seems exorcised from his soul. He does not, however, get along with Black, which sadly is only to be expected._

 _Please write frequently. I do wish to know what takes place in your life. Mai has informed me that Harry seems healthy and well, and that she plans to invite you to her sister's school. I encourage you to go, and to become a part of the magical community on your island. While I still believe that Hogwarts is the best place for Harry, I feel now that gaining allies abroad will serve him well._

 _Lastly, some bad news. I have made no progress in the issue that was most concerning to you. Such a situation as the one your son finds himself in has never before been studied, and I trust you understand when I say that I cannot do so myself without your son present with me. There may perhaps be other ways, but I have not yet found them. I will continue my efforts, and trust you will do the same._

 _Regards, Brian"_

Libra and I read the letter together in our small kitchen, holding it between ourselves.

"Well, he's perfectly clear in this at least," Libra said after finishing it. "Three horcruxes destroyed. That is some progress."

"The other two would be hard to get at," I said. "The one in the Lestrange Vault is guarded by the goblins, and the Diary is well protected by the Malfoys. He'll find it at some point, I'm sure."

"I'm actually quite interested in what happened with Snape," Libra said, pointing to the paper. "He was a complete tosser when we met him, yet Dumbledore defended him. Now he's forced the man on sabbatical and trying to reform him? Why?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "That old man is a hard one to figure. He was really contradictory in the books too. Sometimes he was that weird grandpa who does awesome stuff but is batty as an old attic, other times he was this terrifying warrior of the light or a political mastermind. This man seems to just be in over his head."

"Perhaps, but he is doing a fine job so far it seems. I fear however we will have to return to Hogwarts. Harry must have the best education to defend himself."

"Frankly I'm less worried about Harry at Hogwarts and more worried about us," I said. "Especially with you pregnant again. Britain just isn't safe for our family."

Unlike Sarah who we had more or less blundered into, this child was far more intentional. We'd been using condoms for the first six months after our first child was born, but had stopped and started trying again. I was somewhat thrilled about that, as frankly condoms just weren't as much fun. Libra was only about two weeks pregnant now, as we'd barely detected anything with a home test kit.

"Why not write Dumbledore about it?" Libra suggested. "Perhaps he has some ideas on the matter."

Together, we composed a letter back to Dumbledore over the next few hours.

" _Dear Brian,_

 _The news regarding your treasure hunt is heartening. We are certain that you'll manage to locate the last two objects, and we shall be vigilant for the snake. Be warned about the Diary though: It has the potential to create a copy of the memories that lie within. Watch out for any students that act strangely, or warnings about the return of the heir. We are not certain how this works, but it seems to drain the life of someone and replace that with its own version._

 _Hearing that another evil man is where he belongs is good, but we worry that prisons have been broken out of before, and may be again. We are not sure what can be done about this, but suggest that you have Alastor Moody waiting in the wings on that one, as he is very good at his job._

 _As for Black, while we are glad he is feeling better, we agree that he has no business around Harry at this point. Until he is fully healed and able to distinguish Harry from James, he is still a danger to himself and others. With time, we are certain he can become a part of Harry's life, but the our son is still very disturbed by their last encounter._

 _Harry does wish to inform Mr. Black that he has a puppy, who he has named Padfoot in his honor. We've attached a picture for his enjoyment._

 _In regards to Snape, our feelings are mixed. The man was incredibly rude to us during our first encounter, but we are willing to let bygones be bygones. That said, he probably needs some rudimentary teacher education. We suggest he take a few parenting classes and read the book Parenting with Love and Logic. The teacher edition should be available in a few years. If he can manage to be a decent human being, we would have no problem with him teaching our children._

 _We do have a few questions. The first is this: will our family be safe in Britain? W is still out there, and would kill us all if given the chance. Tom is of course, and ever present threat as are all his servants. While we know Harry can be protected at the school, our family will need a place to live. We are unwilling to send our son somewhere where it would not be safe for the rest of us, and hope you can help us find a solution._

 _The second question is how Harry's education will be handled. Obviously, he needs to learn how to defend himself. We've been teaching him martial arts and survival skills, but he is still young and these are mostly fun for him. As he grows older, he will need teachers who can train him to face the challenges that will come his way and not be helpless._

 _Regards,_

 _D &L M"_

For now, Harry continued to flourish. He was now a blue belt in karate, and had mastered the basics. I was taking the classes as was Libra, and while I was pretty crap at it, Libra was actually rather good, when she wasn't having to stop because she was pregnant again. Punching pregnant ladies in the stomach is not advised.

As for Cub Scouts, Harry loved it. He was now a Bear, and working on earning several belt loops. We learned how to make fires in the wet and I taught the scouts how to make tin foil meals and dutch oven cobbler. We spent more than one weekend camping, rain or shine, and I was lucky enough to get an ear infection from swimming in a stream we probably shouldn't have. Harry was perfectly fine, despite spending twice as much time in the water. I was torn between being grateful, and resentful, but mostly picked grateful.

We also purchased a shotgun and a rifle and went shooting. I didn't really have the heart to go hunting, and Harry wasn't super interested. I'm a bit of a softy, and while I am perfectly cognizant of where my meat comes from, I have just don't like actually killing animals.

Fish, on the other hand, are another matter entirely. I took Harry fishing several times with Principle George and Uncle Sato, who were both avid fishermen. I just don't feel bad killing and cleaning fish for some reason, and Harry rather liked spending time with me and getting to eat what we caught, so it was good fun.

Of course, most of my time was still spent at school. Ka'ao was suspended twice for fighting, despite my best efforts to improve his behavior. Ruby continued to go blissfully through life, and had started to be able to read her own name without an attached picture. She'd also mastered using PECS to mand for items and communicate her wants and needs, and had few accidents. The other kids made various levels of progress in reading and math, and I thanked God I didn't have to do as many standardized tests.

In this time, I found that my own faith had somehow been renewed. Reading the bible daily with Libra reinforced my own faith in ways I hadn't expected. We prayed together for all kinds of things, from the big stuff like safety for our family and Harry's future, to little things like finding my car keys, which were always missing.

I swear, someone switched them out for the magical shrinking kind. When I mentioned this to Libra, she just laughed at me. "David, you would lose your own head if it wasn't attached."

"That's not true," I protested. "I need that to eat."

"Mmmhmm. And where are your sunglasses?"

I patted my pockets and looked around. "Um, are they on the counter?" They were not. "Harry, did you take my sunglasses?"

"No dad, they're on your face," Harry told me, looking up from his homework.

I went bright red and reached up to find them perched on top of my head. "Oh. Thanks." I glared at Libra, who was giggling hysterically. "Ok, maybe it's a good thing that my head is attached, but I remember the important stuff! I remembered our anniversary and your birthday."

"It's ok David, I love you anyway," Libra told me, kissing me on the cheek.

And that was much how life was for us. Kai paid us a few visits to check up on us, and we met his girlfriend, a witch from a haoli family with Portuguese heritage named Maria Costa. We had dinner together a few times, and she showed Harry how to brew a few simple potions: she apparently ran a wizarding version of an apothecary made from local magical ingredients. Harry thought this was pretty cool, and was amazed that both Libra and I could make nothing.

"Something in the magic finishes the potion," Maria told us. "I am not certain what it is myself, but if a haoli tries it they make sludge."

"But I don't have a wand and stuff like you," Harry said. "What did I do to it?"

Maria shrugged. "Who knows? But it is something, and that is what makes the potion work. Your mother can take it as she needs for the nausea, and it should help."

"How come mum can take the potion but not make it?" Harry demanded.

"The potion already has magic within it love, I just don't have any of my own," Libra said gently.

"Well that's not true," Harry declared. "You got mommy magic, and that's the best kind."

Harry didn't see the tears in his mother's eyes, but I did, and I hugged them both for it.

In early December, we got another letter, this time one from Sirius Black. The letter was short, but contained several photos. One was of two young men, who assumed to be Sirius Black and James Potter. They were both smiling and waving at the camera. I realized that while this was magical, I didn't think it especially extraordinary. Really, it just looked like a gif to me. Though those wouldn't be invented for probably another decade.

The other photos were of a similar nature, ones of a scared boy and man I assumed to be Lupin, and a red headed woman with freckles I figured was Lily. There was also a picture of a large black dog, which I guessed was Black's animagus form. Interestingly, some photos had parts cut off, and you could occasionally see a rat faced boy peak around the marred part. I guess Black had a bit of a grudge against Pettigrew. Couldn't blame him really.

" _Dear Harry,_

 _Hello, I'm Sirius Black. I'm your godfather Harry. Fate hasn't been kind to us. By rights, I should have been there for you as you grew up, taught you how to ride a broom and taken you for sweets and such. But that didn't happen. And when I did have a chance to meet you, I made a mess of it. I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean to frighten you or hurt your new family._

 _It was hard for me to accept you could ever have a father that wasn't James Potter, or a mother who wasn't Lily. They were like brother and sister to me. I understand now that you're safe and happy, and for that I'm glad. I hope to see you soon. I love the dog, and the name is very appropriate. I laughed at that more than I have at anything in a long time. Write back soon._

 _Your Dogfather, Sirius "Padfoot" Black"_

After a short talk with Libra, we agreed to give Harry the letter. He was pretty thrilled at the prospect of having a "dogfather" and asked if he could become an animagus, and if he could turn into something cool, like a shark or a lion (he had been watching a lot of voltron tapes).

"Write your godfather about it," Libra told him. "I'm sure he'll enjoy the letters for you. You can't tell him where we live, it's a secret. But you can talk about things in general terms of what you do."

Harry did write back to Sirius, though he needed a bit of help to get it right.

" _Dear Uncle Padfoot_

 _Thanks for the pictures of my other parents. I forget sometimes I had another mum and dad. I have a baby sister now, Sarah. I drew you a picture of me and her. I also drew a picture of my mum and dad. Mum is pregnant again and says maybe this time I'll get a baby brother. I hope we can name him something cool, like Sirius. My mum says it's the dog star and showed it to me. It's pretty._

 _I hope I get too see you soon. I like it here in Hawaii a lot, but day says I get to go to Hogwarts instead of Ka Hale o ka Mana. Dad says Hogwarts has houses. One is for nerds, one is for jocks, one is for evil minions, and one is for people who have actual morals like hard work and loyalty. I bet you were in Hufflepuff like I'll be._

 _Signed, Harry Potter Murphy_

 _PS I drew you a picture of Padfoot, she is nice"_

Oh, did I forget to mention that Padfoot was a bitch? Because Padfoot is totally a bitch. What? It's not swearing if you are using it in the correct technical sense. Even Libra agreed with me, and we both sniggered for a long time when Harry agreed to the name. I also couldn't help but grin at the thought of Sirius Black having a heart attack at the idea of his godson in Hufflepuff. People in the books like to act like they were a bunch of pansies, but really, fidelity and labor were actual morals, unlike recklessness and being a smart ass. As for Slytherin, blatantly evil house doesn't even begin to cover them.

We got another letter from Dumbledore about a week after Sirius' letter, this one a bit of a shock.

" _Dear Murphy family,_

 _I have given much thought to your predicament in living here in Britain, and I believe I have come up with a solution. My Muggle Studies teacher is planning on retiring, and I have convinced them to wait another four years to do so. When the time arrives, I plan on offering the position to Mr. Murphy. I cannot think of anyone more qualified for the position._

 _I confess, a large part of this is a desire of mine to keep you and your unique ability and insight close to myself for counsel. For Mrs. Murphy, I believe the school has long been lacking in the position of a social worker. Someone to do home visits for muggle born students and provide comfort and support for those students who are feeling homesick. As for your living arrangements, I believe we could find suitable housing in Hogsmeade with little effort. This would mean that you were well within the bounds of my own personal protection._

 _In other events, I have excellent news. Mr. Black was able to make a claim upon the Lestrange vault, and we have retrieved the Cup. It will be destroyed in a matter of days by myself. It is a shame such a valuable artifact must be ruined, but there is no recourse._

 _This leaves only the Diary to be retrieved. We have tried many times and ways to locate it, but it seems the item has been moved, possibly to Gringotts. If this is the case, we have no way of accessing it legally. I am loath to pursue extra legal means except as a most extreme last resort due to what this could do to our relationship with the bank owners._

 _Do write back and let me know if you would be willing to accept these positions, and to continue to tell me of Harry's progress and your own condition._

 _Regards, Brian"_

"Well," Libra said after reading through the letter. "I suppose that would solve several problems for us."

"Yeah," I agreed, scratching at my beard. "That would not only give us jobs, but keep us close to Harry. The question I have for you is: would you be OK with it?"

Libra sat quietly for a long while, her eyes unfocused as she was lost in thought. Finally, she shook herself out of it. "It would be hard. Terribly hard. To be at a school for magic, living in a town of wizards, and knowing I would never be able to use magic myself. I would see people I knew growing up, and they would know what I am. It would be the most painful thing I could do."

"We can always say no," I told Libra gently. "Find another way."

"Do you think that would be for the best though?" Libra asked me, her voice full of raw emotion and pain.

I thought for a moment, then shrugged. "We don't have to write back right away. Let's sleep on it for a night, we won't be going back to Hilo for a few days anyway."

Libra was unusually subdued for the next two days, and I often found her standing and staring off into space. I was worried about her, and prayed for her almost constantly, but I knew it was something she was going to have to get through. I told her that no matter what she chose, I would back her up. I'd made my decision a long time ago, and Libra and my kids were more important than any prophecy. Worst came to worst, I'd find a way to keep us safe here on the Big Island. Somehow.

On Friday evening, Libra came to me in our room and rested her head on my shoulder. "I have to stop running," she told me. "I have to confront my past."

"Are you sure?" I asked her. "I'll stand with you either way. Some demons are better left untested."

"Yes," Libra told me, and I felt her tears on my shoulder. "Yes I'm certain. I have two magical children, maybe more. Whatever happens, I have to be there for them. And at some point, I'm going to have to confront my family."

"I'll bring the gun and the shovel," I told her.

She looked up at me, and I shrugged. "Well, we should give your brother a decent burial after we kill him. It's only the Christian thing to do."

She didn't laugh at that. And neither did I. If there was ever one son of a bitch that I was going to kill, it was Walden Macnair. No one threatened my family and got away with it. No one.


	21. Chapter 21

Out of all the years of my life, 1988 had perhaps been the most peaceful, blessed, and fulfilling I had ever lived. This was rather ironic, as I was not technically born yet. However, 1989 was in many ways the same, and in others rather different. We exchanged many letters with Dumbledore and Sirius Black, and Harry continued to grow. Harry and Sirius became good pen pals, and Dumbledore passed on plenty of insightful information, though he was continually frustrated in his attempts to locate the Diary Horcrux.

Sarah took her first steps in our new home that spring, as we moved out of the teacher housing into a slightly larger home in Hanalei town. We were still renting, and living as frugally as we could. So far, we'd managed to avoid dipping into Harry's saved up cash, and had been investing it wisely. We'd finally started to see some good returns on a few of the investments I'd made, though Apple and Microsoft refused to do as well as I thought they should. Sony was doing phenomenally well and making good returns, which made me hopeful I just needed to give things more time.

Perhaps the darkest day of the year came on my birthday. Libra had asked if I wanted a party, and I told her no. We had a quiet family dinner, then left the kids with Auntie Debbie for a few hours. Libra and I went for a walk, where I didn't say much. We ended up in a clearing on a low hill near the town, sitting on top of a rock together.

"Do you think I'm alive?" I asked Libra quietly, looking up at the night sky. It was mostly clear, with a few clouds. Out to sea, I could see rain falling on the ocean against the light of the quarter moon.

"I don't think it matters," Libra told me. "Multiverse theory, right? You'll always be you. Whether or not there is a child who shares your name, we may never know."

I put my arm around Libra, squeezing her tightly. "I wonder, did you exist back where I was from? What were you like?"

"Well, I would have been an old woman by 2017," Libra said quietly. "Who knows what my life would have been like. You said there was no magic in your world, right? Perhaps I was happier that way."

"Yeah," I agreed, still looking up at the sky. "It wouldn't have been you anyway." I kissed the top of her head softly. "You're the one I love. No matter what, I'm still glad I'm here. If I were given the option, I'd choose to stay. Every time. My life here means so much more now."

Libra was quiet for a long time, and we sat together comfortably. "David, if I had to choose between magic and you, you know what I would pick, don't you?"

I looked down at her, my heart feeling like it was being squeezed by a giant's fist as tears came to my eyes. "Would you pick me?" I asked.

"Of course. Every time."

We made love back at our home almost frantically that night, even with Libra being pregnant. I so desperately wanted to feel alive, to feel as though I was where I was supposed to be. I wanted to believe this was part of God's plan, but with the lack of news on Harry, I was doubting once more. But with Libra in my arms, our next child moving within her, I felt as though my life had something more concrete than it ever had before.

After my birthday, we spent a lot of time with Kai, who showed us some of the magical creatures and plants around the island. We saw tattooed sharks the size of a bus swimming out on the ocean (something that nearly gave me a heart attack) and Hawaiian Dragons.

That particular episode took place in Waimanu Valley, where Kai was camping with Harry and me. Libra was eight months pregnant at the time, and had stayed home with Sarah. School had just ended, and it was the beginning of June. It hadn't rained for almost a week, and it was perfect camping weather. We'd paddled kayaks across Waimea Valley into Waimanu the day before, and were cooking a breakfast of Portuguese Sausage, eggs, and rice, when there was a loud crack in our campsite.

"Ey, cuz, you der?" someone called from the bushes near our camp. I'd stood up nervously, but Kai seemed to accept it as normal and Harry was half asleep, staring into the fire while clutching a cup of hot cocoa.

"Yeah brah, howzit?" Kai said, standing and going over to the bushes.

A man in a dirty T-Shirt and jeans stepped out, holding one of the feathered wands kahuna used. "Ey, dis da Pottah boy and his dad I hear about?"

'Yeah, dis Dave Murphy and his boy Harry. Dave, Harry, dis my cousin Kenichi Souza from Honokaa Town."

"Mornin'" I said, shaking the strange wizard's hand. He looked like a local boy and was a bit shorter than I was, probably one of the portuguese-japanese families from the northern Hamakua coast.

"Shoots," Harry said, waving sleepily at the new wizard and accepting that people could just teleport to our campsite with impunity.

"Aloha, call me Ken," the wizard said, waving to Harry.

"What you doin' here today brah?" Kai asked.

"Was just up mauka side from here," Ken said, pointing up the slope of Kohala. "Saw some big gouges in da earth. Sniffed around a bit, found a dead pig. Somthin' been chewin' on it. Somethin' big. Think we got a moho up der."

"Aw hell," Kai groaned. "You sure?"

"For sure brah, you could smell it. How one of those get up here eh?"

"Probably swam over from da reserve on Maui," Kai said with a heavy sigh. "You best go call them, let them know. I handle it, put it to sleep so they come get it."

"For sure, I got da canoe, I can call up some wind, sail over real quick. You sure you got it on your own?"

"Can't you just teleport?" Harry asked, looking up with some interest at this discussion.

"What, over da water? You crazy brah! You can no do dat!" Ken laughed. "Da water make the mana go all bad. You end up thousand yards out to see. Dat a long swim brah against da current."

"Magic doesn't work over open water?" I asked.

Kai shrugged. "Da kine magic work. Like, wind, water magic. That work plenty good. But you try apparate over water? You end up going for a swim or falling and breaking you neck. Other magic not so hot over water either. Also, range on apparition is kinda limited. On da mainland you not go more than what, 500 miles?"

"Some folks go farther than da others," Ken said. "Me, I go mebbe 400 miles on a good day. Not practice going too far, can't go more than 100 miles or so here on dis island, even less on da others."

"Yeah that sound about right. OK, you go get da moho paniolos and I put dis big boy to sleep," Kai said. He shook hands with Ken again, then Ken raised his wand and vanished with a crack.

"Hey, you boys want to go see a dragon?" Kai asked us.

"Yes!" Harry said at the same time I said "No."

"Aww, come on dad!" Harry begged. "I bet it's awesome. Uncle Kai can keep us safe!"

I looked to Kai, who nodded. "Wouldn't offer if I didn't know I could handle it. I done this plenty time before. Moho not like those European dragons. No wings for one thing. Dey swim pretty good though. Of course, if a haoli stumble across one, or even a not too good kahuna, moho eat them same as a pig or a cow. Used to just eat fish and birds, but these days they got a taste for other things."

It took us about five hours to track the moho to its lair up the slope of Kohala. I slowed everyone down, as Kai could have apparate with Harry, but the walk was nice enough. Moho, for those wondering, is the same word as mo'o at its base. Both essentially mean "lizard" which when I finally saw the moho, I had to agree.

The thing was sleeping in a cave, and looked like a huge monitor lizard. There were some striking differences, namely that this one was dark green with a sparkling azure blue underbelly. The feet were webbed, but they still had wicked looking claws. It was much larger than a komodo dragon, easily about 50 feet long, though most of that was the tail. Standing up it would have been head height with a man, and it's head alone was large enough to swallow someone like me in one gulp. However, we caught it napping, and Kai cast several spells that trapped it in the cave. The lazy creature opened one eye, which was flecked with blue and green, then closed it again and went back to sleep.

"Fat buggah must have ate more den one pig," Kai observed. "Good news for us. Those Maui boys should be here soon. I'll put up a signal for them."

Kai conjured a flock of birds, which began singing loudly all around us, their colorful plumage standing out in the trees. It looked and sounded incredible, but was something that people would just pass off as exceptional but not unnatural if they saw it.

Ninety minutes later, the dragon tamers showed up. Harry was not yet bored of the dragon, and was squatting just beyond the shimmering barrier Kai had created, studying the creature. I was next to him, feeling no small amount of trepidation. I'd slipped earlier and slid right through the barrier to Kai's shock and astonishment. Thankfully, the moho had slept through the whole thing and I'd managed to scramble back out of reach. Harry had found the whole situation hilarious, and I had laughed along with him, which was better than crying.

"Aloha Kai," the lead dragon tamer called. She was an asian woman in her mid forties with skin that had seen a lot of sun and weather. Her eyes had smile lines by them though, and she landed her kite expertly. Asian wizards, it seemed, favored bamboo and paper kites over brooms, and frankly they looked more comfortable to ride on.

"Aloha Auntie Naomi," Kai called, waving. "Got your boy trapped right here."

"Pua is a delicate flower," Naomi sniffed. "She just a little rambunctious is all."

"Well she ate most of three pig and went right to sleep," Kai said, pointing to the cave. "Brought a couple of friends over to take a look."

"Oh, this that Harry Pottah I heard about?" Naomi asked, coming over to Harry and I. "You must be his father, that seer. You the one make that big stink about what the haoli do to our reefs?"

"You know, I think us being here is supposed to be a secret," I said, shaking Naomi's hand. "But yes, I'm Harry's father, David."

"Of course it a secret," Naomi said. "That why everyone knows it. Don't worry though, we not tell those mainlander wizards. Especially not them ones that think haoli all need to get killed. Those idiots think we could rule the whole world. Ha! What would they even do with it if they got it?"

"I'd rather not find out," I said.

"Well you two best clear off," Naomi said. She nodded to the two other dragon handlers that had come with her. One looked like a teenaged version of her, the other was a caucasian man in his 30s. "We handle this one. Not the first time one of our moho go swimmin' off. Been looking for Pua for three days now."

"Next time maybe give me a shout eh?" Kai said. "Gave Ken Souza a scare when he found it."

"Yeah, yeah. You get back to your auror business now Kai. Tell your momma aloha for me."

Kai hugged Naomi and slapped the man on his back, waving to the teenaged girl. We started our hike back down the mountain as the dragon tamers drew their wands and started chanting.

"Well, that was interesting," I commented as we made our way back down.

"That was so cool!" Harry cheered. "Did you see how big it was? Did it breath fire?"

"Steam, actually," Kai told us. "You see the little puffs from its nostrils? They store water in their bellies, along with fire. Then they breath out steam. Scald the skin right of a man for sure."

"Either way, that sounds like no fun," I said. "Those things get loose all the time? How?"

"They dig," Kai told us. "Right under the fences, through solid rock. We raise moho for their magical properties. Eyes and claws for potions, teeth for wands, skin for armor and clothes, all kine stuff. But they swim, they dig, they hard to keep brah. Usually they get caught right away, go back to the preserve. This one got out of hand, but it was all OK in the end."

"They ever kill anyone in their little escapes?" I asked Kai.

Kai shrugged. "Sometimes. Usually though that only happens when people go places they shouldn't. We got signs, wards, all kine stuff, but idiot tourists keep trying to go see the Hawaiian dragons. 'Oh, hey man, we got propa dragons back in my home, this dragon, it no dangerous.' They keep saying that right up until one scald the skin offa them or eat them. Shoot brah, I bet this one got out cause some tourist take down the wards or take the tracking spell off them to try and steal it or some crap."

"Good to hear wizarding tourists are as brain dead as the regular kind," I mused. "You hear about that guy a few weeks back who tried to swim with a 'dolphin' that turned out to be a tiger shark? Bit his arm off, he bled to death."

"Yeah, thank God that not my problem," Kai said, shaking his head. "Now, that lolo idiot who tried to pick a menehune pod? That's my problem. Stupid ICW wants to have the menehune put down. They was just protecting their babies brah. Fool got what he deserved."

"I think my mum would kill someone if they tried to take Sarah or baby Marie," Harry said.

While we'd wanted to have our first child be a bit of a surprise, the luster of that had worn off with the realization that we needed to buy stuff for the kid and how inconvenient it would be to have to do that after they showed up. We'd peeked, and Marie Justice Murphy was due in the next two weeks. I'd felt a bit worried about going on this camping trip, but Libra told me to go have some fun before the sleepless nights kicked in.

Everything actually turned out fine, as Marie was born on June 10th, 1989, ten days after we got back from the dragon camping trip. She was named after my own mother Marie LeMaire Murphy, who would probably never know her granddaughter existed, and of course Libra. It was sort of nice to get to spend two solid months with the new baby before school got back in session. Harry really good about helping to watch Sarah, even though he was only turning eight.

Sarah herself was turning out to be a perfectly average child, hitting all her markers at more or less the right times, walking, talking, teeth, all the good stuff. I confess, as a special education teacher I was more than a little fixated on developmental milestones, but Sarah was doing just fine. She was a beautiful little girl with nut brown hair and my own dark eyes. A bit of a mischievous streak was emerging from her, but she was still young enough that her personality was anyone's guess.

Marie, on the other hand, turned out to be a colicky little thing, who was in and out of the hospital three times that first summer with stomach problems and a fever. She was born at a healthy enough weight with dark brown, almost black hair like my own, but unlike me she was tiny and a bit underweight despite being full term. I spend a lot of long hours walking her back and forth on the lanai of our new home, trying to get her to sleep while Libra rested. The delivery had been long and painful; one of those where without modern medicine Libra could very well have died. However, the doctors assured us that everything was fine, and Libra recovered after about six weeks.

However, unlike with Sarah, Libra suffered a bit of postpartum depression after Marie's birth. She felt like a failure as a mother when Marie would sick up her breast milk and struggled to gain weight. The doctors put Marie on formula and her health improved, but Libra seemed to really take the news that her baby wasn't doing well with her mother's milk hard. It took a lot of prayer and sleepless nights, and the doldrums lasted into the new school year. Eventually, Marie's health improved, as did Libra's mood.

"They're both beautiful children," I assured Libra late one August night, after giving Marie a bottle and putting her back to bed. "Just a few bumps in the road, nothing major."

"I know it will be alright," Libra told me, resting her head on my shoulder. "But she's been so much harder than Sarah was. I feel like I did something wrong during the pregnancy."

"You did fine," I assured Libra. "It's all good. You think she's enough? We've got three now."

Libra was quiet for a while, then looked up at me. "Do you not want any more?"

I shrugged. "Frankly as rough as that delivery was on you that's not my call. You were pretty tore up for a while. What do the doctors think?"

"I'm fine now, they said I should have no trouble with another baby, though they said they might consider a C-Section. I just...I don't know. Harry wants a baby brother."

"We could always get him a frog or something," I said as we headed back to bed. "I hear toads are all the rage at Hogwarts. That's like, half a boy right? Snakes and snails and all that."

"We are not getting our son a filthy toad. Everyone would laugh at him! No, he's getting a proper pet: an owl. They're very useful, and wonderful creatures. But you're dodging my question."

I yawned and got back into bed. "I don't think either of us are up for trying tonight. I'd prefer not to make such a big decision with not enough sleep."

"Oh really?"

I opened my eyes to find my wife naked, and crouched on the covers over me, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "Do you not find your wife desirable any more, Mr. Murphy?"

As it turned out, I wasn't as tired as I thought I was.

Four months later, Harry found out he was getting a baby brother for Christmas. What can I say? My wife is very persuasive and stubborn when she sets her mind to things, and I am helpless before her seductive might.

The only other significant event of 1989 (aside from selling the jeep and getting a van like the swelling brood we were) was news from Sirius that Dumbledore's health was indeed worsening. He was eating less at meals, and was increasingly withdrawn from school events, spending more and more time in his office.

This was, to be blunt, a bit of a nuclear warhead. When the news came just before New Years, I was devastated.

"He's not supposed to die yet!" I told Libra. "He's hale and hearty throughout the books! He duels Tom to a standstill and orchestrates all these plans! Harry's not even in school yet!"

"David, calm down. You know you've changed things," Libra told me. "So much has changed from what you've told me. Death Eaters locked away, the Horcruxes mostly destroyed, and of course Harry has us as his parents now. Perhaps we've taxed the old man overmuch."

"But what do we do?" I demanded, pacing back and forth furiously. "If he dies, how do we save Harry? What's the plan!? I don't know enough about magic! Those books have helped me get a handle on the history of it and stuff, and it was horrifying to find out house elves are the result of a thousand years of magical slavery, but they don't help diddly with Harry! Dumbledore was the only hope!"

"David, do you have your faith in a batty old man who left our son in an abusive home, or in God?" Libra demanded bluntly.

I pulled up short, my heart skipping a beat. I swallowed. "In God," I said after far too long a pause.

Libra shook her head. "You're not acting like it, not in the slightest. Now, I may be newer at things of faith than you are, but even I can see putting our hope in Dumbledore of all people was a fool's hope. He's proven to be unreliable and have poor judgement. Surely he is not the only option."

"But I don't know any others," I whispered. "How? What can we do?"

Libra shrugged. "Ask Akeakamai. She may know things Dumbledore does not. Even if she doesn't know, have faith. Trust. My world was forever changed by things beyond my control or knowledge. I'm certain things will be well with Harry. God wouldn't have made us his parents just so he could die."

We contacted Akeakamai on New Year's day by calling Kai, who was the only wizard I knew who had a perfect understanding of how to operate a telephone. He'd make Arthur Weasley proud.

Kai told his Auntie two days later, and she teleported straight to our house, scaring the hell out of Uncle Sato and his wife Jane, who were over for dinner.

"You have an urgent errand to take care of," Akeakamai said, waving her wand over the Sato's. "Make your apologies and leave. You did not see me, but you have heard I am a friend of the Murphy's."

"Oh, I forgot, I have to pay my electric bill," Sato said, standing up with a worried look in his eyes.

"Oh my gosh, I didn't give Billy his vitamin this morning!" Jane gasped, pulling their stunned son away from the Nintendo where he'd been playing duck hunt with Harry.

They left immediately, and Libra and I rounded on the elderly witch, our faces both full of fury at having our home and evening invaded.

"There is no time," Akeakamai snapped at us. "Your son's life is in grievous danger."

That shut us both up.

"What's wrong with the baby?" Harry asked, looking concernedly at Libra's slightly swollen abdomen, as she was three months pregnant.

"Not the unborn one; you, child," Akeakamai said. She marched over and took Harry's head in her hands, pressing her thumb to the scar. "Is this it? The phylactery, as you called it? The shard of the Evil Ones soul?"

"I believe so," I said, coming to peer over Akeakamai's shoulder. "I think it's part of the scar. That's a curse scar, yes?"

"Mum? Dad? What's happening?" Harry said, his voice full of panic.

Sarah began to cry, and that woke Marie up, and she started to wail as well.

"It is. See to your daughters. It is well, child. You are in less danger than I had feared," Akeakamai said, dropping Harry's head. She frowned, tapping her chin. "This is most unsettling. One soul bonded to another. I have never heard of such a thing."

Libra picked up Marie, and I took Sarah, who quickly quieted and started sucking on her thumb, a habit that showed just how nervous the 23 month old girl was. I patted her on the back, and kissed the top of her head. "It has to do with how the horcrux was made," I said. "Voldemort intended to use Harry's death to split off a shard of his soul and infuse an object with it. What that was, I don't know, but the ritual was halfway done when he tried to execute Harry."

"Hmm. I have never heard of these Horcruxes, though the practice of using soul jars is not foreign to me," Akeakamai said, running her finger over Harry's scar. Harry was trembling slightly, a tear running down one cheek, but he was mostly holding it together.

"Hey, it's OK big guy," I said, kneeling down and shifting Sarah over to one arm. "Come here."

Harry hurried over, trying to hide his sobs. He was eight now, a third grader who was increasingly independent, but really he was still a little kid. He'd had quite the nasty shock, and would end up sharing Libra's and my bed for three nights, suffering from more nightmares.

Akeakamai declared she would need to have Harry come to Ka Hale o ka Mana for his scar to be properly studied. "I will need him for several weeks," she informed me. "I know he has schooling, but this should be done as soon as possible. However, first I must research these horcruxes and their nature. I have some contacts in the ICW I will pursue. As soon as I am ready, I will send for the boy. He must come with no delay. While he seems to have suffered no ill effects thus far, I cannot guarantee this will continue."

"Thank you," Libra said, gently bouncing Marie who had quieted down and was drifting back off to sleep. "You're the first person we've told who has taken this seriously."

"Who else knows?" Akeakamai asked. "Have they done nothing?"

"Dumbledore; we told him years ago," I informed her. "He's turned up bupkis."

"That man," Akeakamai growled. "Idiots. Everyone thinks him to be some great leader just because he is the most powerful wizard in ten generations. The man is so afraid of his own greatness he is paralyzed half the time. I am shocked he did not act on behalf of a child in this case though, he has something of a weakness for them."

"I think he probably knows how grievous it is, but wanted not to frighten us or Harry," I said. "He's a bit obsessed with giving Harry a happy childhood."

I leaned in close, so Harry couldn't hear. "I think he believes the only way to remove the soul is for Harry to die, or for Tom to somehow destroy it without Harry dying."

"That is troubling," Akeakamai said, shaking her head. "For all his faults, he is a great wizard, and very wise. Sometimes talking to the man is enough to make one feel a child, so much more can he do and so great is his intellect. If he has found nothing...I shall contact him directly. It seems I shall be leaving Hawaii for several weeks. I will go with the next airship. Thank you for telling me, Murphy family. Your ohana is part of mine." With that, the old lady vanished with a crack.

I swallowed, going over and picking Harry up. It was the first time I'd done that in a while, and I groaned slightly doing it. He was getting heavy, and Sarah was no lightweight herself these days and I still had her. Harry put his head on my shoulder though, looking very frightened.

"It will be OK big guy," I told him. "We'll pray, OK?"

Harry nodded, and we did indeed pray that night. Libra and I both prayed long and passionately, but I think Harry's short plea was the most heartfelt, and effective.

"Jesus, I'm scared," Harry said, his eyes squeezed shut as he knelt by his small bed. "I don't want to be bad, I want to be good. I want my soul to be mine, and not Tom's. Please, help me. Keep us all safe from the bad wizards. Make this go away, please. Thank you, daddy."

None of us slept well that night, or for many nights after. I wanted to believe that God would come through and take care of it, and I tried to outwardly project that faith. I struggled through, and I think Libra sensed that even if the kids didn't. She was there for me though, and for perhaps the first time in our relationship, I laid myself bare to her completely. I wept, I told her my fears, my lack of faith, everything. She never judged me though, and it was I who woke up with nightmares of Harry's body in my arms more than once.

I guess that's why they say it takes two. Because no matter how broken you are, if someone loves you enough, together you can be whole. If there was one thing in life that I knew, it was that Libra loved me unconditionally, and no matter what, she would be there for me.

I hope she knew I felt the same way about her.


	22. Chapter 22

Time was ticking down, and 1990 had arrived. Akeakamai did not return for six weeks, the Friday before Presidents Day. It was a rather inopportune time, as we had a cub scout camping trip planned, and I was one of the leaders scheduled to go. We had to fake an illness of Harry's, that required he go to O'ahu for treatment. Kai helped with some timely modified memories, then took Harry and Libra to Ka Hale o ka Mana. I stayed behind with the girls, then took a week off of work and packed up and drove out to Kohala with them.

As it turned out, I could take a flying kite, though I was absolutely terrified of the things. Whatever weird anti-magic thing I had going on, it didn't affect the kites ability to fly, and a large one flown by Professor Ford picked me and the girls up from a secluded spot in the jungle. Sarah thought the whole thing was amazing, and I had to grip her tightly to keep her from trying to stand up and surf on the damn thing. I lost my lunch twice, despite the dramamine, as did Marie, though that was a bit more standard for her.

When we arrived at the school I fell onto the ground and vomited again, feeling totally weak and helpless.

"Dada OK?" Sarah asked, patting my back with a concerned expression on her pudgy face.

I groaned and tried to smile at her, wiping some bile from my mouth. "OK sweetie," I told her.

"Fly more?" she asked, looking back at the kite with a gleeful look on her face.

"Later maybe," I told her, standing on shaky legs. I took Marie from the concerned Professor Ford, who also patted me on the back.

"Alright, Mr. Murphy? Should I send for the nurse?"

"I'll be fine," I lied. "Where's Harry and my wife?"

"Right this way," Ford said, leading us up to the school.

I stumbled in after Sarah, who was running about and laughing at all the cool new stuff she got to look at. "Look dada! Look, magic!" she said, pointing to a broom that was floating and sweeping the floor like one of those ones in Quel'thalas.

"David?" Libra's voice called, and she appeared from a nearby doorway.

Sarah squealed and ran to her mother's waiting arms. "Mama! Sarah fly! Dada sick."

Libra looked at me with a worried expression as she picked Sarah up. "David?"

"M'Ok," I grunted. "Harry?"

"Confused and worried, but fine. They're still examining him," Libra informed me. "David, you look awful. Why don't you sit down?"

"Gotta see the kid," I told her, stumbling forward and nearly crashing into the wall.

"No, you do not. Sit." Libra put Sarah down and took Marie from me, then sat me down in a chair. "Sit right here."

I wasn't in any shape to do anything else, and a short time later a witch in a yellow robe showed up. "What seems to be wrong, Mr. Murphy?" she asked me, waving her wand over me.

"Not gonna work," I told her. "M'fine. Just need a minute."

The witch frowned, looking at her wand and shaking it, then passing it over me again. "What on earth…"

"S'me. Magic, don't agree with me. Sorry." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back, taking a deep breath.

"I see. Well, I guess I'll leave you to rest then. Call if you need anything."

I cracked an eye open. "You got some ginger ale and crackers?"

"What about a stomach soothing potion?" the nurse offered.

"Will taste like burnt feathers and pig sweat and make me puke again. Maybe just some water?"

"I'll see about the ginger ale and crackers," the nurse told me, frowning as she left.

Fantastic. I guess my little secret would now be known to every magical hawaiian in the entire kingdom or whatever they called it. A short time later the nurse gave me a chilled can of soda and some crackers, and I happily sipped the soda and nibbled on a cracker. "Surprised you got this stuff. British wizards, they don't seem to have a clue 'bout haoli stuff."

"We're a bit more connected to the haoli side of things. Our population just isn't large enough to fully isolate ourselves, and there are not many places to hide on these islands, even this one. While I don't believe in the restorative power of soda and crackers, I do believe that familiar things can comfort the ill and speed their recovery. That, and I actually am a registered nurse. I went to medical school for six years after I graduated from Ka Hale o ka Mana."

"Well, then I guess you actually know what you're doing," I said, closing my eyes again. "I'll be up in a minute. I just get motion sick, and I hate flying."

"That's fine, I'll take you to your family when you are ready."

Five minute later I was feeling a lot better, and after washing up in the bathroom I followed the nurse to where Harry was staying in the hospital. He was laying in bed, asleep, while a team of kahuna paced around, chanting and waving wands. Libra and the girls were watching from behind a one way mirror, along with Akeakamai.

"Well?" I asked, coming over and scooping up Sarah when she tugged on my shorts.

"I learned a great deal of Horcruxes from Dumbledore," Akeakamai said. "They are rather difficult to destroy, it seems. Nearly impossible in fact. They must be completely annihilated beyond any hope of magical repair."

"Well you're not doing that to Harry," I said. "Right?"

"No," Akeakamai agreed. "In fact, we are testing ways of transfering the parasite soul into a new vessel that could be disposed of later. So far, we have had no success. Harry's own soul is shielding any such efforts, protecting the parasite soul as it feeds on his life force."

"It's feeding on his life force?" I demanded, feeling shocked and horrified.

Libra shook her head. "It isn't hurting him according to all the doctors and experts. It is, however, bonded to Harry so tightly they have trouble even detecting that it is there."

"The soul is horribly weak and desiccated," Akeakamai told us. "It is the soul of a monster, a man so vile and wicked that his soul is as shriveled as a dried ahi. But, it is a soul. Nothing physical can destroy your soul, or sever it."

"Well, magic can, right?" I asked.

Akeakamai nodded, pursing her lips. "There is the killing curse."

"Avada Kedavra," Libra whispered, going pale.

"That is one such form. Here, it would be Mak'hauoelo."

"Spells are different in different languages?" I asked, confused.

"Magic has many forms," Akeakamai said. "I could use the incantation Avada Kedavra and it may work for me, but it would be more powerful in the language my ancestors used, in the language I learned magic in."

"So that's why it sounds like bad latin and hebrew," I mused.

"It was the ancient tongue to your people," Akeakamai agreed. "To me, that is old hawaiian. To my ancestors, it was something else perhaps. Over time, magic shifts and changes. Perhaps we can use that to help your son."

We were at Ka Hale o ka Mana for a week. After that, I hiked back out (I was NOT taking the kite again if I could avoid it, even it it did take me hours instead of minutes to get back to the car) with Marie on my back. Sarah got to fly to me, and loved every minute of it, much to my disgust. Maybe Harry could teach her Quidditch. Or, maybe I would get lucky, and they would ban the sport and I'd never have to watch a game. The very idea made me faintly ill again. Libra stayed with Harry, and I went back to work, leaving the girls with Jane Sato during the day and playing at being a single dad during the night.

For two months, Harry and Libra were gone. People were very concerned of course, and Harry got quite a few cards and leis sent to him. I never had to cook as people brought us any number of meals. I did anyway, as I find the practice rather cathartic. I ended up putting on ten pounds I'd lost by being good out of stress eating, as Libra wasn't there. Padfoot and I ended up going for a lot of walks, and the poor girl spent a lot of time by the door, a sad look in her eyes as she waited for her boy to come home.

"I miss him too girl," I told the dog. "Come on, why don't you play with Sarah for a bit?"

While like the dog, I could be distracted by playing with my younger children, I still missed Harry and Libra, and prayed hourly for them.

I went back during spring break and Good Friday. It was on Easter Sunday that the kahuna of Hawaii admitted defeat.

"We cannot separate the two souls," Akeakamai informed us at a tear filled meeting. "Dumbledore warned us this may be the case. Harry, for good or ill, is tied to this soul on a spiritual level. It is a level we cannot reach with our current magics. I will continue to research, as will Dumbledore. I may call Harry back for occasional visits."

"Is there nothing you can do?" I asked, my voice rough and my cheeks wet.

Akeakamai hesitated, then shook her head. "We have tried everything. We have even brought in a kahuna of the gods, and he could do nothing. The boy is marked by another spirit."

"What?" Libra asked. "You didn't tell me about that!"

"You told us to try everything. We did. As I said, the boy is marked."

"By Voldemort?" I asked, using the name unthinkingly.

"No, not even that one is strong enough to leave a brand on someone's spirit. No, he is claimed by a god. This happens, especially to those of certain bloodlines who practice the ancient ways, though the shaman said it was not the brand of one of our gods."

"The blood of the Lamb," Libra whispered. "He's marked by the Blood of Christ."

"Perhaps. Maybe your god is not dead as some believe. Maybe he is God, and not merely a god as I thought. I do not know."

"So...so maybe a priest could do something?" I wondered. "Like, the Vatican?"

"I would not put my trust in haoli religion," Akeakamai counseled us. "They know nothing of magic and souls, or the true power of spirits. Theirs is little more than superstition. Your faith may comfort you, but I would advise putting my trust in magic. Dumbledore and I have much power and experience between us. We shall think of something."

"But are their Christian wizards?" I pressed.

"There are kahuna who practice that faith, but not ones who command spirits or commune with gods. At least, not that I have heard of. Yours is a faith that is somewhat hostile to our ways, and in these lands it never truly took root among us."

I looked at Libra, and she squeezed my hand. "Have faith, David."

It was all we could do. We took Harry home at long last. He was most relieved to be let go. We lied, and said that everything was alright, and that he was healthy for now. Harry was just glad to be back home, and back in school for the last few weeks. Padfoot was especially enthusiastic, and despite the former rule that she was not to sleep in Harry's bed, the dog ended up exactly there, spending the rest of our time in Hawaii sleeping next to her boy.

Harry's return was marked by a lot of concerned friends paying visits and inquiring about his illness. We'd settled on a rare form of epilepsy as the explanation, one that had caused the doctors a great deal of concern. This would explain any sudden headaches Harry could get if Voldemort somehow became active early, and would be a disease that didn't leave any surgical marks. People were concerned and understanding, and it took an awful lot of Harry asserting he was fine before people let him run around like a normal kid again.

Around the end of May, another letter arrived from Dumbledore.

 _Dear Murphy Family,_

 _I have learned of the results of Mai's research, and I fear it is as I expected it would be. The illness within Harry seems to have no means of easily removing it. As he grows older, there may be other options we can explore, such as using occlumency or a modified form of legilimency and obliviation to address the issue._

 _Do not yet give up hope. I have spent much time pondering this issue, and have made it my life's last great work. There is some progress, and I believe I approaching a solution._

 _I have undertaken the preparations for your arrival in two years time. All has been made ready. Harry will find allies and mentors ready to aide him, and your family will be kept safe._

 _Regards, Brian_

"Well, that's something at least," I said once we'd finished reading the letter.

Libra put her hand on mine, her face concerned. "David, don't put your faith in Dumbledore. I'm sure he means well, but he's only human. He's failed before."

"Yeah. Yeah you're right. We'll just have to keep praying and trusting. I do pray that he succeeds though. It would be a good solution," I said.

That summer we spent a great deal of time at Ka Halo o ka Mana. Akeakamai and the other professors continued to run tests on Harry, trying various potions and spells, but to no effect. Sarah seemed to enjoy living at the magical school though, and at one point even managed to get a hold of a spare wand and shoot of some sparks before Libra took it from her after nearly having a panic attack.

"Mummy more lights! More lights!" Sarah begged, reaching for the wand.

"No more lights. Why don't you go play outside with your father and brother? It's a beautiful day."

Sarah sat down and crossed her arms, glaring up at her mother. "Want lights. Mummy make lights?"

Libra closed her eyes, looking pained, and I went over and took Sarah. "Hey, you have a choice. You can listen to your mother and come play outside, or you can have a time out. What do you choose?"

"Fly outside?" Sarah begged. "Fly with Harry?"

Harry had, on Kai's suggestion, been given access to a training broom. It wouldn't go more than about five feet off the ground or faster than about 8 miles an hour (so that even I could keep up with it running) but Sarah and Harry were both completely enamored with it and wanted to spend all their spare time flying.

Libra had needed to convince me that they were not going to die, as the broom had sticking and cushioning charms, and that I wasn't going to have a heart attack watching them. For once, she had been the one arguing in favor of more access to magic.

"It's not going to hurt them, and aren't you the one who told me Harry would grow to be preternaturally skilled on a broom? Youngest seeker in a century wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but that was book Harry. This is our son, and those things just don't look safe. He's only eight!"

"He'll be nine in eight weeks. It's just a training broom David. You're going to need to get over this now, because if he wants to play quidditch when he's older, you need to be able to let him. Flying is a valuable skill that could save his life."

"Or damn well kill him," I grumbled. But then I sighed. "But you're right. I'm not so sure about Sarah though."

Libra gave me a look. "David, the moment she asks you to go up on that broom, are you really going to be able to tell her no?"

"Sometimes," I said. "If it's dangerous."

"Mhmmm. You let me know how that works out for you Mr. Pushover."

Sarah did, in fact, have her daddy wrapped mostly around her little finger, and while I did set restrictions on broom use and ground her from it a time or two, she did get to fly with Harry. Despite Harry's request, Marie most certainly did NOT get to fly with her big brother, even if she was starting to toddle around. Once again Libra's relationship with Marie was a bit hard on her, as she'd actually missed her first steps while she'd been with Harry in the spring, and felt really guilty about that.

Marie was actually worrying me to a bit, as she wasn't talking at all yet despite being 13 months old. She was alert and had passed her hearing screening, but for some reason was still just making babbling noises instead of talking. Akeakamai took a look at Marie, and pronounced that while she was perfectly healthy, she had no magic.

Yet again, Libra took this news exceptionally hard. Upon learning that Marie was another squib, Libra entered into a dark mood during the last part of her pregnancy.

"I know I shouldn't take this so hard," she told me late one night. "You've no magic. I've no magic. But...but after Sarah, I had just so hoped…"

"She'll be fine," I told Libra. "We both know that having or not having magic isn't what makes you special. She'll get to grow up and choose her own path. We won't love her any less for who she is, nor will Harry or Sarah. She'll be their little sister, always. Even if she never goes to Hogwarts."

It took time, well after our son was born even, but Libra did in time pull herself together and move on.

The most important event of the summer though was the birth of our youngest son, James David Murphy. Named for my father and myself, James was born at Ka Hale o ko Mana and delivered by the nursing staff on July 20th, 1990 at 2:30 in the morning. Harry declared his new baby brother to be "the best birthday present ever." To my amusement, Harry was even willing to help change diapers in the coming weeks, though it was certainly not his favorite activity.

James was named for my father and myself, and Harry was tickled pink that he shared his middle name with James. "Was I named after your dad too?" Harry actually asked me a week after James was born.

Before I could answer, he smacked his forehead and blushed. "Oh, no wait, that was...my other dad? James Potter."

"Well, maybe James was named after him too," I told Harry. "Only appropriate, right?"

"I dunno, it feels weird," Harry said, looking down and scuffing the floor with his bare foot. "I mean, I don't really remember them. I mostly don't remember the Dursleys either. I remember not liking them and meeting you dad, but...but I was little. I just can't remember anymore. Is that bad?"

"No," I said, kneeling so that I was level with Harry's head. "You were very young. Most people can't remember anything from when they were a baby, which is what you were when your birth parents died. As for the Dursleys, the less you remember of them, the better. I hope they're better people now, but the way they treated you was just wrong."

"I'm glad though," Harry said, putting his arms around my neck. "I wouldn't have gotten to be with you and mum without them, or had my sisters and brother."

That made me realize something all over again. Sometimes, bad things happen for good reasons. True, I don't think God inflicts the suffering on us, but as it is written, God works all things together for the good of those who love him. Sometimes we have to be put through the flame, so we come out tempered instead of soft when the hard blows come. Our family had certainly been put through the fire, Harry especially and even more in the years to come. But so far, it seemed like things were working out for the best.

We just had to have faith, because I sure as hell couldn't have predicted what the next two years would bring. Future knowledge or not.

 _Authors Note:_

 _And now, I word on how I feel about how magic works._

 _Magic in the HP universe is a completely nonsensical plot device. It is 100% the way magic worked in old stories; spells that would show up, solve or cause a problem, and then likely never be mentioned again. It is very much not the way more modern magic (the best exampes are in Brandon Sanderson's works) is used in stories, as a fundamental force of nature that can be studied, understood, and applied in limited ways. HP magic is essentially unlimited so long as the author wishes to find a new use for it._

 _The fact that HP magic is composed of silly faux latin, hebrew, greek, and aramaic phrases just cements this. So, don't try and take it too seriously. Other cultures would, I imagine, use their own ancient languages in their spells and rituals. They might be able to use the other spells and there is probably some cross cultural pollination going on, but really who knows._


	23. Chapter 23

Harry's ninth birthday was a bit different from his last three beach side bashes. Instead, we had it at Ka Halo o ka Mana, and Harry was introduced to a lot of magical kids his own age. I, for the life of me, couldn't keep track of all their names, but it was interesting to see a bunch of magical kids flying around on brooms and kites, blowing magical bubbles that you could float around in, and of course doing the normal kid stuff of running around outside after a ball. Even if this one appeared to be made out of flubber and changed colors based on who last touched it.

And by interesting, I meant I was about two steps from a heart attack everytime Harry flew higher than two feet off the ground, but Libra held my hand and I managed to get through it.

It turned out that there just were more magicals on the Big Island that I had thought. My book on the History of Magic (in the UK anyway) indicated that the wizarding population of the British Isles was somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000. Given that the population of the UK was about 56 million at the date of the books publication, that meant even with the larger number magicals made up only .07% of the UK's population. Given the Big Island population was only 120,000, I figured there had to be less than 100 wizards on the whole island.

However, this was not the case due to a special set of circumstances. The first factor I hadn't taken into consideration was Ka Hale o ka Mana itself. The school was a major hub for all of polynesia, and attracted a huge number of kahuna. The next was that while the Big Island was isolated, it was also pretty geographically large (for an island anyway) and had lots of places to live in an out of the way location. Thus, about 1000 magicals called the island their permanent home. If you factored in students that number grew to over 1500.

O'ahu also had a pretty large magical population thanks to the magical tourism industry, but the other islands all had very small numbers, with the three smallest having no permanent magical residents (though Lanai did have an auror who patrolled it due to magical tourism). Ni'ilhau and Kaho'olawea were both off limits for magical visitors for obvious reasons; one was privately owned by haoli and the other was a big bombing range. Even wizards don't take hits from cruise missiles very well.

This made Harry's birthday party pretty impressive, as about 40 kids and their families showed up for a total of 400 guests. It sort of felt like Bilbo and Frodo's last party together, as we had fireworks that turned into sharks, fish, whales, and other creatures, mountains of food and lakes of drink, and a huge pile of gifts.

The most surprising visitors, however, were not native to the island at all. Fortunately, while they were a surprise to Harry, they were not a surprise to Libra and myself.

Some months earlier, when Harry had first been sent to Ka Halo o ka Mana, Sirius Black had written a series of frantic letters to Libra and I. He offered to bring Harry to Britain for treatment, or even to send him to the isle of Malta where the best and most ancient wizarding medical facilities were. Black pledged his not insubstantial fortune for this, and even promised that if we didn't want him there, he wouldn't be there, only requesting that we give Harry the very best treatment.

I assured Black that money wasn't an issue (Harry still had over 65,000 dollars put away in an easy to access fund) and that Harry was receiving the best of care here and we were being advised by Dumbledore.

Black, however, was not entirely mollified. He begged us to let him pay for and send the very best magical healers money could buy with his own cash, and it was only because Dumbledore intervened that he didn't hop on an airship and fly himself out directly to try and help (whatever little good that would have done).

Libra and I talked it over, and we agreed that Black seemed to be a changed man. He obviously cared for Harry, and we were planning on returning to England in two short years. It was time Harry met his godfather. As such, we extended an offer to Black to come and visit us at Ka Hale o ka Mana for Harry's birthday to check on his godson's health.

This was, ultimately, the source of the more extravagant party favors and gifts that Harry received. Sirius Black was a wealthy man, and he spared no expense to arrive for Harry's party.

Harry and Sarah both loved to watch the airships come in and dock at the top of the great Koa Tree. Obviously, their father really, really didn't enjoy this, and their mother was very pregnant and not up to hiking to the top of a "bloody great stick" every time an airship came in. We both made an exception however for the July 30th arrival, much to Harry and Sarah's delight.

"Who knows, might even be someone on there you know," I told Harry. "Someone who is very eager to meet you."

"Who?" Harry demanded.

"A friend of yours," I told him. "He wants it to be a surprise."

"Is it Mr. Dumbledore? Auntie Mai says he's the one who helped with all the treatments and stuff," Harry said. "I'd like to meet him again, I remember he was funny and always had desserts."

"You are your father's son," Libra said, shaking her head and poking my belly.

"Nothing wrong with liking some sugar," I said, pinching Libra's posterior. She yelped, but grinned at me.

"You'll have to wait for that," she whispered in my ear. "But I might have some other ideas as to what we can do." Then we kissed, much to our oldest's consternation.

"Ew, can you do that later?" Harry complained. "I want to watch the airship come in."

I put Sarah up on my shoulders as Harry stood up on the rail, peering out as what looked to them to be a massive cloud approached. To me it looked like a large ship, about the size of an old wooden frigate with sail like fins on the side and at the rear. As it came closer though, Harry and Sarah gasped in delight as the illusion hiding the ship's form dropped away. Personally, I never could tell the moment, though sometimes I thought I saw the air shimmer a bit.

As the ship drew near, we could make out figures running back and forth on the deck, hauling on ropes and doing sailory stuff that probably had really technical terms I didn't care about. On the prow were two men, waving toward us. One was taller with shoulder length black hair, the other a bit shorter with short brown hair. Both had beards, and were dressed in European traveling robes. The tall dark one was waving to us frantically and shouting, though as they were still a few hundred yards away we couldn't hear what. The other was waving in a more reserved fashion, and leaning on the rail.

Once they got closer though, we could start to make out the calls.

"Hallo! Harry, Harry it's me! Do you see him, Remus, that's Harry right there! And his family! Hello Murphy's, it's me, Padfoot!"

"Padfoot's a bitch," I shouted back. "You claimin' to be one too?"

"Oh stop it," Libra said, shoving my shoulder. "Be nice."

However, my remark had caused both men to laugh, slapping each other on the back and waving.

"Dad! Dad it's Uncle Sirius!" Harry said, now jumping up and down and waving. "Hello! Hello Uncle Sirius!"

"And your Uncle Moony too!" Black called, pointing to his companion as the ship drew up along the peer.

"Remus! Uncle Remus! Bloody hell Sirius, do you have to tell everyone that damned nickname?"

"Don't look like no br'er rabbit to me," I observed.

"No talking about the future David," Libra told me. "You'll just get us into trouble."

"Hey, Br're rabbit was published like 100 years ago. That's the other direction."

Black and Lupin hurried off the ship, and Harry jumped up into Sirius' arms. The man was weeping openly, clutching Harry close and rocking back on his heels. Lupin put his hand on Black's back to steady him, and smiled at us, extending his hand.

"Remus Lupin. Good to finally meet you all. These must be Harry's siblings."

"I Sarah," Sarah happily, leaning over the top of my head to grab at Remus' hair, a bad habit of hers. "You fly on big ship!"

"David Murphy, and my oldest girl Sarah. Good to meet you as well," I said. "And of course, my wife Libra and our youngest, James, and this is Marie."

Marie shyly hid behind her mothers legs, putting her hand in her mouth as she peered out at the two strangers. James was thankfully asleep in Libra's arms, but Black and Lupin greeted us all warmly.

"I can't thank you enough for inviting us to Harry's party," Black said, pumping my hand enthusiastically. Then he quieted a bit, looking embarrassed. "And...and I want to apologize again. What I did that night...it was inexcusable. I'm sorry. I wasn't...I wasn't right in the head."

"All is forgiven," I told Black, pulling him into a half embrace while I squeezed his hand. "I understand being lost and alone."

"Thank you," Black whispered, his voice ragged. "And thanks you for being the father Harry needed."

We spent that evening together, eating dinner at a small cafe in the town near the school. Harry was delighted to have two new Uncles to talk to, and introduced them to Loco Mocos, which both our guests seemed to enjoy.

After the meal, Black got to meet Padfoot the Dog, which he found enormously entertaining. He scared the living daylights out of the poor girl when he transformed into a large black dog himself however. Padfoot was a bit of a coward and lept into the air, then tried to hide behind Harry.

"No girl, that's Uncle Padfoot. He just turns into a dog, see?" Harry said, rubbing his frightened pet's back and calming her. Padfoot finally crept forward and sniffed at Sirius, then sneezed and darted away, then came back and licked at him.

"See, she likes you!" Harry said. "You can both be doggy friends."

"Is that legal?" I asked, my tone dry. Libra rolled her eyes at me and Remus developed a coughing fit. Padfoot had another panic attack as Sirius changed back, running around him in circles and barking frantically.

"That isn't funny," Sirius whined in a very dog like tone. "That's not what Harry meant!"

"Just so long as you have honorable intentions towards all my family members. Pets included," I said, doing my best to keep a straight face.

Sirius growled at me, but ended up laughing along with everyone else, even Libra, who snorted much to her own embarrassment.

At the party, Sirius unveiled the various fireworks and other novelty items he'd paid for, along with a stack of gifts for Harry. One of which made me nearly want to murder the man all over again.

"Dad! Mum! Look! A broom! It's a real broom!" Harry cheered upon opening the long package from his Godfather.

I glared at the man, and he blushed and held up his open hands toward me. "It's just a trainer! Won't go more than 50 feet into the air and it's speed locked to 30 miles an hour."

"Fifty feet!?" I said, incredulous. "That's far enough to-"

"Talk about it later," Libra told me.

I opened and shut my mouth a few times, then looked at Harry and Sarah, who were still squealing and jumping up and down in delight.

"But where the hell is he even going to fly that thing?" I asked Libra quietly. "For crying out loud, it's not like he can go ridding it after school."

"We'll talk to Harry about it, but there are going to have to be some major restrictions," Libra answered. "A training broom is normally an appropriate gift for a nine year old boy though. However, as neither of us have the magic necessary to make sure it's used safely, Harry might not get much flight time in."

"Fair enough," I agreed. "I just don't like those things. They give me the willies."

"David, being on top of a step ladder gives you the willies. Our children may be a hair more adventurous."

The broom ended up going into the care of Kai, who promised a rather disappointed Harry he would take him (and not his little sister-Libra and I both agreed she was too young for Harry to take her up that high) flying when the opportunity arose.

"So, I heard you'll be joining the staff," Lupin said as he and I watched the fireworks display later that night. I knew the man was currently employed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, which in my opinion could only be a good thing. He was probably the best teacher in that area Harry had ever had in the other life.

"Yeah, Dumbledore wants me to teach muggle studies," I said, watching the fireworks go off and trying not to squeal as loudly as the kids. Fireworks and explosions are pretty cool on their own, but magical ones that turn into turtles and swim across the sky? Those are freaking amazing. "Can't imagine why though."

"He's said some odd things about you," Lupin said, taking a sip from his drink. "What is the story about how you met Harry?"

I thought for a moment, wondering just how much to tell Lupin. I decided that, for now, less was more. "He was a student in my Year 1 class when he was five. I noticed signs of abuse," I said quietly. "I went to investigate. He'd been beaten by his cousin and locked in a cupboard. Given precious little to eat and drink. So, I intervened. And that's when things got weird."

"I never did like Petunia," Lupin muttered. "She just rubbed me the wrong way."

"She rubs everyone the wrong way. But anyway, when the police came, they tried to separate Harry and I. He did some accidental magic, and everyone seemed to think Harry should go with me."

"Ah," Lupin said, nodding. "That explains it. I know your wife's family. Never met her before, but the Macnairs, well, they have a reputation."

I raised an eyebrow at Lupin, and he shrugged. "She looks a lot like her brother and father. I was more than a little familiar with both of them because of a...condition I have."

"I know werewolf scars when I see them," I said quietly. "Don't worry, your secret's safe with us."

Lupin half choked on his drink, then eyed me oddly. "I thought you were just a muggle who stumbled into this whole mess."

"Not quite," I said. "My wife and I have a lot in common." Which was a true, if entirely misleading statement.

Lupin nodded. "Ah. Makes sense then. I wondered about that."

"Daddy, daddy look! Sarah fly!"

My heart skipped a beat, and I whirled around. Sarah was laughing as she rode on Sirius shoulders, her arms spread wide as he ran about under the fireworks, which were currently a flock of hawaiian honeycreepers.

"Very nice sweetie!" I called, then closed my eyes and shook my head.

"Not a fan of brooms?" Lupin asked me. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

"Not your fault," I sighed. "I'll have to get used to it. She's like her big brother."

"Not unusual for a couple such as yourselves to have a magical child," Lupin told me. "It's a good thing, right?"

"I think so. I'm not sensitive about it, but my wife...well, her upbringing was a lot harsher on the whole squib-pureblood thing than mine was."

"I'll take that under advisement. Might want to tell Sirius, though even if we do he can be a tad insensitive at time," Lupin said quietly.

"How is he? Really?" I asked Lupin.

The other man shifted, looking at his friend as he laughed and ran with the kids under the stars, lit by the distant fireworks. "He's never going to be the man I knew growing up. Azkaban changes a man. It's a dark place, filled with nightmares you never really wake up from even after you leave."

"That said, he's mostly healed. Even found a lady he likes. A future colleague of yours: Aurora Sinistra."

"The astronomy teacher, right?" I asked. "He mentioned her in some of his letters to Harry. They serious?"

Lupin rolled his eyes at me, and I winked at him. "Merlin, you're as bad as he can be. He's more 'serious' about her than he has been about anyone in a long time. She's been good for him I think. She's sober and dedicated, but light hearted enough to help him when he gets in one of his Black moods."

"Oh, and you were giving me a hard time for my name puns?"

Lupin grimaced. "Sorry, bad habit."

"And what about you? Anyone special in your life?" I recalled Remus had been interested in Nymphadora Tonks, but I was pretty sure was was still one of his students. Would that relationship ever blossom now? I had no idea.

"No," Lupin said. "Between my condition and work, I have little time for romance."

"Make time my friend," I said, slapping him on the back. "There are days I don't know what I would have done without Libra. And my kids, well, I wasn't really living life until I was living it for them."

"Hmm," Lupin said, and I got the impression he got this talk a lot.

"Hey," I said, waiting until he looked back at me. "It's not a matter of you being good enough. No one is really good enough. It's a matter of just deciding that you love another flawed human being enough to risk yourself."

Lupin grunted and shrugged, and I poked him. "You are human. No matter what other people think."

"Easy for you to say," Lupin grumbled.

"No, it's freaking not."

Lupin started, looking at me with narrowed eyes, I grabbed him by the shoulder and started hauling him away. "Honey, I'm going to have the talk with our friend here," I called to my wife.

"The talk?" Libra said, looking confused.

"The special talk. You want to come along?" I said.

"What are you-" Lupin began, but he saw Libra hurrying after us and tried to shrug out of my grip.

"This is for your own good, you self effacing idiot," I told him. "Now shut up and listen. We've got to get somewhere private."

"David, are you sure this is a good idea?" Libra asked, waddling slightly after us with James on her shoulder.

"I'll risk a lot to save a man's life," I told her. "Even my own."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Lupin demanded.

"Anyone follow us?" I asked Libra as we walked behind one of the buildings away from the party.

"I don't think so," she said. "We should be alone."

"What is going on?" Lupin demanded. "I don't need any more romantic advise, thank you very much. You both hardly know-"

"Stuff it. Get out your wand and make sure no one's listening in at all," I told him.

Lupin frowned at me. "Why?"

"Because I'd rather not have to tell Harry in a few years that I let his favorite uncle die again," I told him.

Lupin paled slightly, but he did take out his wand. He waved it around and muttered in funny latin. "Alright, no one can hear us. What is this about? Why are you acting like you've seen me die? Are you a seer?"

"One better. I'm from the goddamn future," I told him, folding my arms over my chest.

Lupin looked at me incredulously, then glanced at Libra. "What nonsense is this? Are you two having one over on me?"

"He's telling the truth," Libra said quietly, patting James on the back. He let out a low burp, then turned over and went back to sleep. "Just try using a spell on him."

"Preferably one that doesn't conjure something, just straight up magic," I told him. "Oh, and please nothing that would ruin my shirt. I kind of like it."

"This is madness, I'm not hexing you, you're Harry's father," Lupin protested.

"Just try a stunner or something, anything non-lethal," I told Lupin.

"Are you sure? You are just a squib," Lupin said hesitantly. "It's not like you could undo it yourself."

"Just do it," I sighed.

Lupin raised his wand. "Furnunculus."

A jet of purple light shot out and hit my face. I grimaced, but honestly I didn't feel a thing. I scratched my head and looked at Libra. "Isn't that like the tickling curse or something."

"I believe that one is boils," Libra told me. "Ugly and a bit painful, but not really harmful."

"Oh. I got any pimples?" I asked, rubbing at my forehead.

"No," Lupin said, sounding confused. "Nothing happened. Nothing at all. It's like the magic dissolved as soon as it hit you. Are you a werewolf too? It's not close to the full moon, but-"

"No, I'm not a werewolf. In fact, I seriously doubt I could become one," I told him. "However, I could probably still get mauled to death so forgive me if I don't want to go for a moonlight walk with your wildside. Try another one."

Lupin tapped his wand in his off hand, narrowing his eyes at me. Finally he raised his wand and made a motion, but didn't say anything. A jet of red shot out of the wand and hit my chest. I scratched at where it had hit me, as it it had made my shirt press up against my skin hard for a moment.

"Silent magic huh? Don't know what that was, but again, nada. Believe I ain't exactly normal now?"

Lupin nodded slowly. "I suppose so, but I don't know that I buy that you're from the future still. That's impossible, Chronormu's Law states that time travel can occur only in closed loops, and only over short periods of time, no more than a few hours. But that's all hypothetical of course."

"Well I suppose I'm the exception that proves the rule, because currently I'm younger than Sarah is," I told Lupin. "I was born on April 11th, 1989."

Lupin shook his head slowly. "That's impossible. You're about the same age as I am; 31."

"Close, he's a year older than you are," Libra said. "That's how he knew who Harry was: he recognized him from his fame in the future."

"Which we won't get into the mechanics of how right now, but suffice to say that I have some rather pertinent information that you need to hear, cowboy," I said.

"You...you know how I die?" Lupin asked, looking faintly green.

"I'm not going to give you the exact specifics, because frankly I've changed enough that they're not likely to occur again," I said. "However, what I can give you is the reasons that lead to you dying. Namely, you being a self sacrificing idiot who never thought he was good enough for anyone, even his own wife and child."

"My...wife? And child?" Lupin asked, looking dazed. "No, that's impossible, I swore I would never burden anyone with-"

"And see? There you go again. You refuse to acknowledge that you're actually a skilled teacher and fighter, a loyal man who sticks by his friends, and someone a lot of people care about. Instead, you run away from things, especially attachment, and end up getting yourself and your wife killed," I said, jabbing my finger in Lupin's chest. "And, for the record, nearly getting Harry killed as well."

Lupin looked aghast. "If you want me to stay away from Harry, I will. I knew I never should have become a teacher, I told Dumbledore, even with the potion, I'm too dangerous. I'll move away, like I should have, live alone. Sirius is better now, he doesn't need me, he's got Harry and Aurora now."

I looked at Libra. "Do you want to explain what an enormous idiot he's being, or should I?"

"Let me try," Libra said. She handed James to me, who I took and cradled in both arms, rocking him gently as he stirred.

Lupin cringed. "Look, I'm sorry, I never should have come. I thought with the full moon a week away I would-"

Libra slapped Lupin clean across the face, causing a bit of blood and spittle to fly out as he comically reeled back.

"Are you not listening to my husband at all?" Libra demanded, planting her hands on her hips. "He said you abandoned them, not mauled them. I don't know all the details myself, but from what he's told me Harry was in danger because you ran away from him out of the fear you might have hurt him. Your wife and you were killed because you were too full of self loathing to stand with her and ended up making a stupid last stand instead of working with everyone else."

That was, of course, a bit of an extrapolation on my part and not something I was certain about at all, but Libra had obviously caught on to my routine and was playing along. I'd told her that Lupin's biggest problem was that he used his affliction as an excuse and a crutch to keep him out of relationships and belittle himself instead of facing his problems in the little notebook I'd given to her on our first Christmas.

Lupin rubbed his sore jaw, looking back and forth between the two of us. "Ow," was all he said.

"There is no one else we'd rather have teaching Harry how to defend himself," I told Lupin. "You were the best teacher he had, and one of those was Mad Eye Moody."

"You...you think I'm better than Alastor Moody himself?" Lupin said, sounding rather dazed.

"Moody's a great fighter and properly paranoid, but he's crap with kids and only a marginally better teacher than Snape," I said. "Well, than the Snape I remember. Dumbledore claims he's somewhat reformed, but I'll believe that when I see it. But anyway, you? You actually not only give a damn about the kids, but you have the empathy and natural patience to make a great teacher. Hell, you taught Harry how to make a corporeal patronus in his third year."

"A corporeal patronus?" Lupin asked. "In his third year? But...but that's a NEWT level spell."

"And if our son had not had such an excellent teacher, do you think he would have ever mastered it?" Libra asked softly.

Lupin slowly shook his head. "I...I don't know what to say."

"Nothing is probably the best idea," I told him. "So far, you and Dumbledore are the only ones who know what I am. And to reference your earlier question, whatever kind of human I am, it ain't the local variety. Not any more. So I get it. The only people I know and love are my family. Everyone else I knew is gone forever; a lot of them haven't even been born yet."

"Alright. I...this is incredible, but...I suppose I should believe you. " Lupin's eyes suddenly widdened. "It was you. You're the one who told Dumbledore where to find Peter!"

I dipped my head. "The one and only. And about the basilisk, and the horcruxes. You know about those?"

"Is the Diary one of them?" Lupin asked. "I've been told to keep an eye out for Tom Riddle's diary and we do a monthly scan for possession at the school, which I perform as part of my class."

"Neat. And yes, it is."

"Astounding. I can hardly credit it, but...but it would explain a great many odd things." Lupin looked dazed, and sat down on a nearby rock. "A wife. And child. I failed them."

"No, in a potential future that is no longer valid, another version of you failed them," I corrected. "If you fix those mistakes now, you can make sure that you get started on that early, and never become the man who let those around him down. And by the way, your son grew up to be Harry's godson, and he loved him dearly, so don't think you can disappoint Harry on that account."

"This is a great deal to think about," Lupin murmured. He looked up suddenly, a hopeful look in his eyes. "I don't suppose you could tell-"

"Not a chance," I said firmly. "You'll have to figure it out on your own."

"I...hmmm. I suppose that is for the best." Lupin stood again, his legs wobbling slightly. "What about Sirius? Surely he...he's alright?"

"Let's just say that Bellatrix Lestrange has a lot to answer for. Sirius died on his feet, but he died because he couldn't escape the past. Hopefully we've already course corrected that," I said.

"That bitch," Lupin growled, his fingers tightening on his wand.

"Hey now, we both agreed that just because Padfoot shares a name with Sirius doesn't mean we should be calling people names," I admonished.

Lupin started giggling, and didn't stop for almost a full minute. Finally, he wiped his eyes and smiled at me. "Thank you. I'll try and become the man you seem to think I am. Harry deserves it."

"Don't do it for Harry," Libra said, giving Lupin a hug. "Do it for yourself. Be the man you were meant to be."

We walked back to the party, and I handed the snoring James to Lupin. He looked startled at first, but when Libra and I smiled at him, Lupin settled down and gently rocked the child, humming to himself. I smiled to myself, watching Lupin as he gazed up at the sky as it lit with another burst of fireworks. Sometimes, time travel was kind of awesome.

Of course, I'd probably just killed Teddy Lupin. Maybe it should be illegal after all.


	24. Chapter 24

We said goodbye to Sirius and Remus three days later, waving as they departed in another airship.

"Will we see Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus again soon?" Harry asked as the ship vanished into a real cloud so that even I couldn't see it.

"Soon enough," I promised. "You know, before too long, we'll be moving back to England so you can go to Hogwarts."

"Why can't I go here though?" Harry protested. "I like it here."

"Because of Tom," Libra said quietly. "Because he'll come for you. At Hogwarts, you can learn to protect yourself."

This answer seemed to satisfy Harry, but also to frighten him. I ruffled his short hair and smiled down at him. "Chin up big guy. That's still two years from now. We've got time."

That's what I said anyway, but really, we didn't have much time. We were running out the clock, and fast. Going back to work at school was a challenge, but it was one I was familiar with at least.

Ka'ao was gone, having moved to the middle school at the end of the last year. He'd been held back finally, but he was still reading at an abysmally low level and his behavior was rocky. As for Ruby, she was passed along and was still as low as ever, though at least she was fully potty trained. I had another new student named Daniel, a kindergartener with shaken baby syndrome that had resulted in severe brain damage. He needed a walker to get around, and had low speech along with moderate cognitive delays. I ended up having to spend most of my year working with occupational, physical, and speech therapists to try and get him all the services he needed.

Harry of course was doing well. He struggled a bit due to his long absence the year before, but Libra and I had tutored him a bit over the summer (much to his disappointment) and his grades were soon again at the top of the class.

One thing about Harry being at the top of the class: at his age, performance is usually not the result of academic giftedness. Instead, Harry had two parents who were very academically inclined, and had the time and the know how to help him with his homework. Like many rural areas, Hanalei town had a high poverty level. Many parents had either only a highschool diploma, or had dropped out to work the plantations.

This was now, however, becoming a real liability. The mac nut factory was closing down this year, and other jobs were drying up. While the mainland may have been undergoing an economic boom, that meant that labor in Hawaii was getting expensive, and that was hitting rural farming communities hard. The consequence was that people were scrambling for work, or working long hours in low paying jobs.

This meant that due to no fault of their own, many of Harry's peers lacked the support they needed to succeed in school.I and the other teachers did our best: we put in long hours, tutored kids, had after school clubs, and tried to do community activities to get parents involved. Sometimes though, there is simply nothing more teachers can do.

That thought scared me. What was Harry going into at Hogwarts? In the books, Harry's education had seemed haphazard at best to me. His potions master hated him, and Harry never seemed particularly adept in that area. He'd been OK in charms and transfiguration, and good at defense, but that was almost sheer luck. Were Libra and I going to drag Harry down because we wouldn't be able to help him with his Hogwarts homework any more than some of my kids' parents could help their children?

Libra and I were both nervous, and worried. We'd decided that we were done with having kids, at least for now. We were both still young, I was now 31 and Libra was 28, but we didn't want to be bringing an infant to England. James would be young enough, and that might turn out to be a liability.

The specter of our vulnerability continued to weigh on our thoughts. Sirius, despite actually not meaning us any harm, had once thoroughly thrashed Libra and myself almost without meaning to. What could someone who actually meant our family harm do? This was especially worrying in light of what Sirius and Remus had told us on their last day with our family.

"Dumbledore might no be long for this world," Sirius had said while we sat out under the shade of the giant tree after lunch. "He's increasingly feeble and forgetful. Sometimes you'll be talking to him, and have to repeat yourself. He just seems to drift off to another world."

"I think he's lost the will to live," Remus added. "He is increasingly uninterested in much of anything that isn't his research. He's planning on sticking around he claims, but the Board of Governors is worried. They can't very well fire the man who not only slew the Serpent of Slytherin but bested Grindelwald as well, but he's very reliant on Professor McGonagall for day to day administration."

"Who could replace him?" Libra asked. "And would they still want David as a teacher?"

"The natural choice is McGonagall, though some on the board would press for Snape to be made Headmaster," Sirius told us, a look of disgust on his face.

"If that asshole is made Headmaster, we're finding a new damn school for Harry," I growled. Libra nodded her head, and Sirius grinned and winked, but Remus frowned.

"He's a changed man. Still harsh and acerbic as ever, but a much improved teacher from what I've seen. The students still mostly dislike him, but we've had a rise in potions NEWTS students in the past few years. I think his sabbatical did him good. There were...unusual circumstances surrounding it." Remus raised his eyebrows at me, and I gave him a small nod while Sirius blanched and ranted about Snape.

"-and besides all that, he still smells funny," Sirius finished.

"I mostly agree with you, but I'm willing to give the man another chance. Our last meeting rather unpleasant, but I'd like to think we've all grown a bit since then," Libra said.

"Well at least someone is going to be reasonable in regards to old grudges," Lupin said, picking up a thermos. "What's this one?"

"Tea," I told him without thinking.

Lupin took a long swig, then gagged and spit it out on the grass. "Ugh! It's cold! Who drinks cold tea?"

"Actually I've come to rather enjoy it," Libra said. "I know it's a disgrace to my english roots, but it is rather refreshing when it's so hot all the time."

"She drank it by the galleon while she was pregnant with James," I told the two wizards. "Couldn't get enough of the stuff."

"It was just a craving," Libra said, taking the thermos from Remus. She wiped it off with her sleeve and took a sip. "Mmm. That is good, it's very warm right now."

Still, Remus and Sirius were gone now, but they left behind that worry about Dumbledore. What was wrong with the old man? What had I managed to screw up? Were his failures in the other timeline weighing on his conscious? I didn't know, and he was too far away to do much of anything about.

Still, I had to consider that while my actions had certainly had some really positive effects, Harry having a loving family being the top one, there were going to be some negatives. I'd thought Tonks and Remus had been a cute couple, but now it was highly unlikely they'd get together. Dumbledore was apparently ill and aging fast, and might not be long for this world. And who knew what else?

However, I couldn't complain too much, as my life was pretty good. My children were all healthy and doing well. Marie was finally talking, and the doctor said that some children just waited a bit longer. I resisted the urge to continuously compare her progress to my developmental milestone chart, but as with most things it would just take time for her to grow. She was still small, but had gained enough weight to put her in the healthy range. I was personally still concerned as was Libra, but the doctors and healers assured us nothing was wrong with Marie.

James, in contrast, was large for a newborn. With the magically assisted delivery things had gone well and Libra healed up in record time. James wasn't as colicky as Marie had been, and took to breastfeeding just fine. He spent most of his time sleeping as was proper, but was gaining weight and growing at a good rate.

Sarah was a very boisterous 30 month old girl who kept everyone on her toes. She worshiped the ground that Harry walked on and would have followed him everywhere if we let her. Even more, Sarah adored Harry's broom, and had several tantrums when she was informed she couldn't fly. We managed to convince everyone she just really loved airplanes, even if Sarah did say, "No plane, fly! Fly with Harry broom!" more than once.

She also regularly got into trouble for trying to climb under the house to dig in the dirt under there, and once got a painful sting from a centipede while sticking her hand where she shouldn't. That resulted in a very unfun hospital visit, but thankfully centipede stings are not that dangerous, even for small children.

The really scary bit came when Kai had to come and wipe a few memories. After an epic melt down when her mother took away the broom Sarah had been running around on outside since it was time for a nap, Sarah ended up floating herself up on top of our roof. I was at school at the time, and Libra gave me a frantic call about our daughter being in serious danger. I raced home to find her on top of the roof, giggling and running around on the shingles. I managed to get out a step ladder and climb on top while Libra called Kai, as a few of our neighbors had seen Sarah floating.

"Bloody hell, what are we going to do with you?" Libra asked Sarah as we put her in her room for a long and well earned time out.

"Ship her off to Hogwarts and let someone who can fly deal with it," I muttered.

"Sorry daddy, mummy," Sarah said a half hour later when her parents were ready to deal with her. "Me not be bad again. OK?"

Of course, we forgave her, as she was just a baby and cute as a button. Still, heart attacks like that are probably a part of raising any child, they just get extra interesting with magical ones.

For his part, Harry seemed to relish being the focus of his little sister's attention, and promised her that as soon as he got his broom back he would take her flying again.

"Oh come on dad, I'll be careful! Uncle Sirius said I was super great on a broom!" Harry protested when I put my foot down on this.

"And you are. But Sarah is still two. She's not ready to go flying about, even with her older brother. The little trainer broom is fine, yours is not," I informed him.

"You mean you're not fine with it," Harry grumbled.

"No, I'm not. And as your father, you need to respect the limits I put on you," I informed Harry. "I'm doing it for a reason."

Harry made a face, but agreed to the restriction. Sarah was devastated that she didn't get to go with "Nuncle Kai" and fly, but she was three, and got over it. I would never have forgiven myself if my baby girl had been injured on one of those damn things.

Which wasn't to say I didn't realize that someday my baby girl would want to try out for a Quidditch team. Yeesh.

"Hey Kai, do kids play quidditch at Ka Hale o ka Mana?" I asked after he brought Harry back from another flying lesson.

"Yeah, we got a couple teams, play against Japan and Indonesia sometimes. Why?"

"Never mind," I groaned. Of course they played quidditch here. Crazy damn wizards.

Life, of course, went on. Harry got more than just flying lessons with Kai though. He continued to be tutored in potions on a semi regular basis, mostly really basic stuff that didn't require a wand. Kai took us on more nature walks where we learned about the magical plants of the island with the menehune. Most of it wouldn't be applicable in England, but I'd be damned if Harry showed up and got humiliated by Snape again.

Of course, if Snape did decide to humiliate Harry, I might just have to fullfill a long time dream of mine and kick his ass. Somehow. I'd probably need Sirius to stun him first, wasn't like I could take a wizard in a fair fight.

Which, despite my efforts at learning karate with Harry, was all too obvious. I am really, really bad at hurting people. My instructors were always telling me not to pull my punches, and while I could certainly take a hit and keep on trucking myself, I just didn't have that killer edge.

"David, you are not going to hurt me," Sensei Ichikara told me more than once. "You have to just hit as hard as you can."

I kept trying, but I just didn't like seeing people hurt.

On the other hand, Harry enjoyed getting to beat on his old man, though I could still easily take him to the ground and pin him without too much difficulty. No matter what you see in the movies, when the little guy fights the big one, it ain't the little guy you should be betting on. Having over 100lbs and a foot and a half on someone is pretty much a guaranteed win every time.

Libra, on the other hand, was pretty vicious in her own self defense courses. Even though I outweighed her by a substantial margin, we were pretty close to the same height, and I'm not ashamed to say my wife could kick my ass most of the time. She, unlike me, didn't feel the need to pull her punches. I could still wrassle her pretty good, though that was the sort of thing one didn't do in public.

Still, despite the early scares from the horcrux, the rest of 1990 was peaceful enough. Harry caught up in school by winter break, and we started making plans to move back to Britain in 18 months.

Thanks to the fact that we had acquired three additional children, moving to another country was going to be a wee bit more complicated this time. Getting visas wasn't a problem, as Libra was a UK citizen as were the kids, and I had a work visa. It was decided after a few letters with Dumbledore we'd go back the muggle way (Sarah would be highly disappointed not to fly on an airship, but I figured a plane wouldn't be too bad and they were a lot faster).

At the end of the school year, I let Principle George know this would be my last year. He was grateful enough for the long lead time on finding a replacement, and I let him know I'd miss my classroom.

"It's been great, but unfortunately we've got family issues to deal with back in the UK," I told George. "Thankfully Harry should be safe enough, but there are some skeletons in our closet we can't run from for much longer."

"Sounds like hard choice. Sure I couldn't convince you to stay on? It's a pain to try to find another sped teacher who wants to live out in the sticks," George told me as we sat together on on old pier, our lines trailing out into the ocean.

"I'd love to stay, so would Libra and the kids. But, well, I don't want Harry to always live in fear. I can't give you the details, but there's a strong chance we could help take down the son of a bitch that murdered his family. That, and Libra has to deal with some stuff regarding her own family. It's been eating at her. That, and well, Harry's condition is getting worse, and they have some experimental treatments in the UK that can help. We don't have much of a choice."

"I get it. Sometimes, we don't get to do what we want. Still, it's been good having you. And at least we have one more year together," George said.

I took a sip from my beer and nodded. I'd acquired a taste for the stuff a long time ago. "Yeah, still, I'll miss this fishing with you."

George snorted and took a sip from his own beer. "It's hardly fishing. You're still drinking AW. I've yet to see you even get kind of drunk on one of our trips."

I frowned. "Hey, don't be knockin' my root beer. They don't even have this stuff in the UK. I'll miss it."

Sirius and Lupin paid us another visit in July. Lupin brought over a bunch of muggle studies text books for me to go over, and Sirius brought Sarah her very own baby broom (after Lupin made him ask Libra. Clever bastards. She said yes of course, and I had to back her up).

"This stuff is a load of crap," I said after reading through only part of the first year text book. "Do they seriously think muggles dress like this still?" I pointed to a picture of a kid from the freaking 20s. "No one, not even hipsters, wear this crap anymore. They'll look like little lord Fauntleroy and stick out like sore thumbs."

"The curriculum is somewhat...outdated," Lupin admitted.

"And do they really think muggles still burn witches at the stake? What, do they think we're some kind of Spanish inquisition?" I asked, pointing to another picture of a witch being burned by people in pilgrim get up.

"NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!" Harry yelled, bursting out onto the lanai. His mother and I were both fans of Monty Python, and she insisted Harry needed to at least appreciate the classic british humor. Not sure if it would help with the wizards, but it was funny anyway.

"Harry, take a look at this," I said, passing him one of the books.

He flipped through it, then laughed. "Do they really think haoli still ride horses everywhere?" he said, pointing to a picture of a carriage and buggy.

"Yeah, Remus, I am not teaching this crap," I said. "I'm going to write Dumbledore. This curriculum is so out of date it's no wonder wizards don't know the first thing about how the other half lives."

"Dumbledore may very well be sympathetic, but the Board of Governors is likely not to be," Lupin told me. "They're traditionalists, and the ICW has not updated the NEWTS standards in decades."

"Well no duh," I said. "Listen, I get that the board may be resistant, but they're probably a bunch of stuck up wizard supremacists, right?" I asked. "So what if we pitch as a way to get one over on the muggles. Teach kids how to defend themselves against terrifying new weapons and also blend in and hoodwink muggles or something."

"I don't know David, they're pretty hung up on not changing what they don't think is broken," Lupin cautioned. "We don't want to disrupt the chance you be hired. Why don't you give it a few years first, get comfortable at the job."

"Like hell. Would you teach kids theories on defense that were a century out of date and would get them killed if they ever tried it?" I demanded.

Lupin hesitated, then nodded. "I see your point. Very well, let's try and draft a proposal."

As much as I hated it, I didn't totally eject the blatantly racist crap that was in the curriculum, instead focusing on updating ways for wizards to fool and protect themselves from muggles, like the dangers of cameras, television, and guns.

Dumbledore was somewhat amicable to the proposal, and said he'd take it to the board in his next letter after Lupin showed him what I'd come up with. The best part was, I wasn't asking for a bunch of money to buy new text books or anything. I figured we could just get some muggle ones and make a few copies (turned out magical books were protected against just being magically copied, but muggle stuff was fair game).

And then it was once more Harry's birthday, and the summer was over. We entered into our last year in Hawaii.

"I've loved it here, David," Libra said as we lay together in bed after the party. We'd had another beach party this year, and Sirius and Remus had come as Harry's "uncles" and been something of a hit. "What will life be like back in England? What will we do? I haven't...living amongst the magicals again, it will bring back so many memories."

"You did OK with Harry last year," I said. "It won't be too bad."

"I felt so useless the entire time though! I couldn't do anything but watch and wait," Libra complained.

"That's how it always is when the kids get sick. We just have to do what the doctors say and wait, like when Sarah had that ear infection in April. It was miserable and we all hated it, but there wasn't much we could do."

"I suppose," Libra reluctantly agreed. "Still, it will be difficult, living in Hogsmeade and being surrounded by those with magic. You'll be away so much…"

"It won't be that bad," I promised. "I've only got duty two nights a week, and my classes are a lot less demanding than some of the core ones."

That whole year, we were on eggshells the entire time. Each day felt like we were doing something for the last time, something precious that we'd never get back. We went to all the beaches with the kids, hiked around Volcano National park, went snorkeling, watched the stars on Mauna Kea, everything that we wanted them to remember.

Of course, only Harry and possibly Sarah would remember much. She was just barely four, and likely would only ever have vague memories. Still, we took pictures of Marie watching a sea turtle bask, and James riding on a boogie board with his mother, and the two of them and the sand castle Harry had built for them.

We also found out from Akeakamai that James would be another wizard. Libra was once more conflicted, and fussed over Marie even more than usual. "She's going to be left out David. Just like I was, the only squib in a family of wizards," she told me as we watched our two youngest children sleep one February evening.

"Except you will never abandon her and always love her," I said. "It will be alright. You'll see. Not having magic isn't so bad. You and I get along just fine."

And then, time was up. The end of May came, and it was the last day of school. I went to Daniel's classroom to help him during the celebration, as he wanted to sing and dance along with the other kids, but couldn't walk unassisted. Then I went to Ruby's classroom, where she had made a very sweet card with her teacher's help thanking me for our time together.

"You'll have a blast in middle school," I told her. She was in 6th grade now, and though she was still mostly non-verbal, she gave me a pec for "love you" and a big hug.

"I love you too kiddo. I'll miss you," I said, giving her a tight squeeze.

"Bye," Ruby told me, which made me grin widely. She hadn't really used the word in the right context before, even though we'd been working on social greetings for four years.

After school was over, I looked around the campus one last time. I smiled wistfully, and headed back to my room, which I had been out of all day to help with the kids. I opened to door to find the rest of the teaching staff there, a banner with "Aloha and Mahalo Mr. Murphy" hanging from the ceiling.

Ka'ao was there, with a cake he'd made himself. It looked pretty good, and tasted wonderful.

"Thanks Mr. Haoli. You was alright," Ka'ao told me, shaking my hand. "You keep teachin', you not to bad at it."

"Thanks bud," I said, gripping Ka'ao's wrist firmly. "You keep cooking. I want to hear you got your own restaurant someday, OK?"

Ka'ao blushed, and then it was time to bid farewell to all the people I'd met here. Uncle Sato, Auntie Debbie, and of course Principal George.

"Thanks for giving me a chance," I told him. "We never would have made it otherwise."

"Thanks for making my bet pay off, David. You come back and visit sometime, OK?"

Harry was broken up to have to say goodbye to his friends and teachers, kids he'd been in the same class with for four long years, most of the life he could remember.

The next day we had another farewell party with Kai and Akeakamai, and a few of the other kahuna we'd met. Harry and Sarah were tearful at saying goodbye to their uncle and auntie, and promised that they'd come back and visit soon.

"Thank you, for everything," Libra told our hosts. "We'll miss this place."

"Be well on your journey. Should you need help, send for us. You go to face a dark power," Akeakamai said. "You will always be a part of our ohana. You are welcome at any time."

"Shoots brah, you let me know if you need an extra wand," Kai told me. "Heard about those Death Eaters even over here. Nasty pieces of work."

"I may have to take you up on that sometime," I told Kai, shaking his hand.

The next morning, we boarded the plane with our meager possessions. Harry had been forced to part with his beloved Nintendo, his high score on Balloon fight passed on to one of his friends. There was no electricity at Hogwarts, and it wasn't as though he could play Zelda in his dorm room.

We boarded a plane for the long fight to the mainland, and waved goodbye to the past.

Ahead, the future was murky. Despite what I had known, I knew that things were going to be different in England.

Perhaps if I'd known how different, I might not have had the courage to go.


	25. Chapter 25

Once more, we did not fly directly to Britain, instead visiting the Most Magical place on earth again. Harry was delighted to get to take his little siblings with him, and to get to go with his parents on some of the more exciting rides like Space Mountain (that was Libra's job. I held the baby, thank you very much.) Sarah and Marie got to dress up like Belle, as Beauty and the Beast had come out only the year before. They even got to meet the Beast and Gaston, much to Sarah's delight and Marie's consternation.

Marie was three years old now, and was proving an old adage true: once they learn how to talk, they just don't shut up. She was still fairly hard to understand, having a pronounced speech delay that would need to be addressed, but she was easily understood by her older sister and Harry and chattered away constantly. Marie adored the princesses that she got to see, blushing and taking her picture with Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White. She was utterly adorable in all her pictures, smiling and waving excitedly.

For Jame's part, he mostly sat in the stroller and got pushed around, for like his father he wasn't a fan of fast moving rides. Of course, he also wasn't quite two yet, so that could change. He was a very well behaved little boy though, only getting cranky and upset after long days in the sun when it was definitely time for him to take a nap.

For her part, Sarah loved the fast moving rides. She was three and a half, and sort of got that she wasn't supposed to talk about flying on brooms around other people, but roller coasters were alright. She was obsessed with the sort of rides that made me green around the gills. Her hands down favorite was the Pirates of the Caribbean ride (it helped that Harry loved it just as much) and she went on it no less than five times during our three day visit. I had to resist the temptation to do a Jack Sparrow impression, as everyone would just think I was doing a bad Keith Richards.

While Harry had seen the wonders of the magical world and even ridden on a real broom with Sirius (I had nearly had a conniption when I found out, but Libra had talked me out of murdering the mutt). However, he was still a kid, and he really loved Disneyland just as much the second time. I think though is favorite part was that this time, he had siblings to share his memories with. He made a point of taking Sarah to the Jungle Boat ride because he remembered it, and getting Libra a birthday present in the form of Belle's golden earrings reminiscent of the first time.

While my other children were still solidifying into the personalities and people they would be later, Harry already had a pretty firm identity. He was fiercely loyal to his siblings and family, taking time to play with and care for his youngest siblings and seldom complaining about it. Harry rarely brought up the fact that he was adopted, though I had heard him more than once telling Sarah stories about the Potters and how brave they had been. It had been a long time since he'd told Libra and me we weren't his real parents in anger, and was usually pretty obedient.

Harry was far from a perfect kid of course. He was more than a little sarcastic at times and prone to recklessness. While he was hard working and got excellent grades, he was also more than willing to put things off until later and ended up rushing to finish homework assignments frequently, especially when his mother or I didn't ride him about them. While I wouldn't have called Harry disrespectful, the somewhat irreverent and casual attitude that was common in Hawaii was one Harry had fully embraced.

Our last vacation in the US was a good one all told. We visited Sea World on our last day, and ate at In-N-Out Burger one last time. It made me really nostalgic, eating the same kind of food that I had eaten in that other world so often, and seeing so many of the cultural touchstones I remembered from my childhood.

On our final night, Libra and I left Harry and the kiddos with a sitting service, and went out to a nice restaurant. Our anniversary had been sort of passed over due to the hectic nature of selling off our possessions once more and moving across continents again, but we both agreed before we took the plunge we needed some quality time together.

We had made reservations at one of the finer dining establishments at the resort, and I rented a tux. Libra purchased a very nice black evening gown, along with a pair of heels that showed off her legs wonderfully, even if she was more than a little self conscious that they made her slightly taller than I was.

"It's been an amazing four years," I said, raising my glass of wine to her. "Best of my life. To you, my wonderful bride."

"Best of our lives," Libra agreed, tapping her own glass gently against mine. "We've four wonderful children now. So different than when we started."

"We never really had any time just to ourselves did we?" I mused, taking a small sip of the wine. It was pricey stuff, but this was the only time we'd ever done something like this, and I was willing to indulge a bit. Our finances were in good shape, even not factoring in Harry's money. In fact, Disney was a part of that. I had known that the Little Mermaid marked a turning point for the company, and my investment had more than doubled since then.

"No," Libra agreed. "There was always Harry. And it wasn't long until Sarah arrived. We've been rather productive, wouldn't you say?"

I chuckled. "That's one way to put it. And I don't regret that we started having kids right away. Especially not since it's really thanks to Harry we ever got to know one another at all."

"I sometimes wonder if having more was wise of us," Libra said. "We know what's waiting for us. The Diary was never found, and my brother and mother are still there."

I took Libra's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Whatever we face, we face together as a family. And I wouldn't give up our kids for the world. Plus...you're going to get to go to Hogwarts. After all these years, we get to see the magic for ourselves."

Libra grinned at that, shaking her head. "You know, I never thought I would be so happy for someone else to get to live my own childhood dreams. But I'm genuinely happy for Harry, and for Sarah and James eventually. But…"

"But just like us, Marie will find her own place in the world. Just like we did. I just hope she finds as wonderful a partner to share it with as I did," I said, raising my glass again.

Once more, we flew across the continent. Word to the wise: flying with five year olds is alright but stressful. Flying with toddlers and two year olds? Find another hobby. Still, we survived the flight to New York, then the flight over the pond and back to England.

Getting through customs wasn't hard. The kids all had UK passports thanks to Libra, and I had my work visa. It was odd though, standing once more on British soil. We'd been gone a long time, and things were radically different now. Instead of hiding, we were about to step into the open.

Sirius and Remus met us at the airport, much to Sarah and Harry's delight.

"Uncle Sirius!" Harry shouted, running for his godfather.

"Uncle Remus!" Sarah squealed, and leapt up into Remus' arms.

"Oof, you keep getting bigger," Remus told Sarah, lifting her up and shaking her a bit.

Sarah giggled and spread her arms. "I'm four! I'm a big girl now! I'm a princess, like Belle! Lookit, I got a dolly!"

"She's very nice," Remus told Sarah, smiling and setting her down so she could show off the toy she'd gotten at Disneyland.

"You grow any yet?" Sirius teased Harry, rubbing the top of Harry's ballcap.

Harry laughed and batted at Sirius' hands. "Stop it! I have too! I grew half an inch since last summer!"

"Whatever you say, short stuff. Say, where's my namesake?" Sirius demanded.

"Quarantine," Harry said sadly. "She'll be there for a couple more weeks. We sent her ahead. Has to get all her shots again."

"Well, maybe I could figure something out," Sirius said with a wink.

Harry looked to me hopefully, but I shook my head. "Best to do it the old fashion way. Padfoot will be fine, she'll be out before you even start school."

Harry adjusted the cap he was wearing to conceal his scar, and we all headed off to a waiting car.

"I'm driving," Libra declared when Sirius reached for the drivers door of the van. "Never trust a pureblood to have the slightest clue when it comes to driving."

Sirius looked offended, then frowned. "Aren't you a pureblood? And shouldn't David drive? I thought it was the man's job and all that. I never saw you drive when we were in Hawaii."

"That's because Yanks don't drive on the proper side of the road," Libra said, sniffing. "And I'm not a pureblood. I'm a muggle, and proud of it."

"I wouldn't argue with her Uncle Sirius," Harry said. "You won't get any dessert if you do."

"Daddy why are the cars driving funny?" Sarah asked as we buckled her into her car seat.

"It's because the British are all nuts, and don't drive on the right side of the road," I told her.

"You'll have to get used to it, love. You're a British citizen you know," Libra said from the driver's seat.

"Mommy drive!" Marie said happily, clapping her hands. "Songs?"

"Here, put this one in," I said, handing a cassette tape from a backpack up to Remus, who frowned at it.

"What is this?" Lupin asked, puzzled.

"Here," Libra said, taking it and putting it in the tape deck as we pulled away.

Marie, Sarah, Harry, Libra and I enthusiastically began to sing "Gaston" as we pulled away from the terminal.

"This is what muggles listen to now?" Sirius asked incredulously. "This nothing like what I remember."

"Kids, man. Not exactly going to be listening to ACDC or Queen when the kids want Disney Songs. We can play some of Harry's and my stuff later," I told him as the kids continued singing along to Be Our Guest.

"Oh, I don't know, I rather like it," Lupin said, then sang, "Be our guest put our service to the test!" along with everyone else as we drove. By the time we got to Grimmauld Place, even Sirius was humming along to the classic songs.

Grimmauld Place was, interestingly enough, not at all like it had been described in the books. Instead of being drafty and unappealing, it was well lit and tastefully decorated in scarlet and gold, giving the place a rather bright feeling. There was no portrait wailing at us, and the house elf wasn't an ugly monstrosity, but a young looking female named Sissy.

"What happened to Kreature?" I wondered aloud after Sissy took our luggage from us to stow away.

Sirius gave me an odd look. "Kreature? He's been gone for years, sent him to Hogwarts after he helped dispose of that locket. He's happier now I hear. But how on earth do you know about him? I never mentioned him in any of my letters."

"Oh, er, Remus told me," I said, pointing to the somewhat mystified man.

"Oh, er, yes, I mentioned how he helped get rid of that Horcrux," Remus put in hastily. When Sirius nodded at turned away, he gave me an odd look.

"Time travel," I whispered. "The elf was trouble."

"Oh. Well, I believe that," Remus muttered.

The old town house was large enough that Libra and I got a room to ourselves, one for Harry and James, and another for the girls. Sirius had offered to give Harry his own room, but Harry told him he'd been sharing a room with James for a long time, and didn't want to change that.

"I won't get to spend much time with him when I go to Hogwarts," Harry explained. "And I know James will miss me when I'm gone."

"Har go?" James asked, looking confused and clutching at his older brothers pant legs.

Harry picked his brother up, which seemed to calm the younger boy down. "Not yet brah, I stay little while longer OK?"

"OK," James agreed, then squirmed to be set down so he could go explore the fascinating house some more.

"Dumbledore and Aurora will be joining us for dinner," Sirius said once we'd got everything put away and everyone settled. The younger two kids also got put down for a nap, which Marie had protested she didn't need right up until she passed out. Sarah could have probably done with one as well, but she was pretty good about staying awake until an early bed time when things were happening, and she'd slept on the plane.

"Good. How's the old man?" I asked.

Sirius made a face, and Lupin waggled his hand back and forth and spoke. "As well as can be expected I suppose. This is his last year as Headmaster. He's still sharp as a whip, but..."

"But he's old and tired," Sirius added in a quiet tone. "I don't know how much longer he'll last. It's a miracle he's made it this far."

"Who is replacing him?" Libra asked. "Is it Snape?"

"No, Snape put himself out of the running, but it was always likely McGonagall would succeed the old man," Lupin informed.

"Who's going to be the new transfiguration teacher?" I asked.

"Hestia Jones is the new senior professor. She was a classmate of mine and Sirius'. Two years behind us I think," Lupin said. "She'd already taken over more classes McGonagall took on more of the Headmaster's duties. I'm the new Head of Gryffindor."

I nodded, squinting and wracking my brain. The name sounded somewhat familiar, but I couldn't really recall much about her. I'd been going over my notes feverishly for the past few weeks, and I think I had a couple of Jones down.

"She's a member of the Order of the Phoenix," Sirius added. "Smart girl, good at transfiguration. Remus fancies her."

Lupin flushed and muttered something, glaring at Sirius, then giving me an odd look. I grinned and winked at him, which made him flush even more, but he was smiling as he did so. I would never tell.

"The Order of the Phoenix, that's the group Dumbledore ran to oppose Tom isn't it?" Libra asked.

"Tom?" Sirius asked, confused. "Who's Tom? We were fighting against You-Know-Who."

"That's his name," Harry said. "Tom Riddle. Didn't Dumbledore tell you to look for his Diary?"

"Huh. I mean, yeah, but I never put that together," Sirius mused. "Tom Riddle. Wow. That is super not the name you'd have thought a so-called Dark Lord would have."

"It gets worse. Voldemort's an anagram," I said. "His full name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. You can anagram it to 'I am Lord Voldemort."

"Or...Dildo...Lover...Rot...Mam?" Sirius offered.

"What's a dildo?" Sarah asked.

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, but Libra poked him hard in the gut and answered, "Something you shouldn't call someone because it's very rude."

"Oh. Uncle Sirius, can we fly?" Sarah asked, going over and taking ahold of Sirius' jean leg with one hand.

Sirius grinned down at her, but then caught himself and looked to me.

I sighed and nodded to Harry. "If you and your big brother want to go flying with your mother, you can. I take it you have to go somewhere to do it though?"

"Yeah, we can go to Remus' old shack," Sirius offered. "I've got Harry's broom you sent me, and probably an old kiddie broom around somewhere. You can come too, we can floo over."

"Best if Libra goes and I stay here in case the little ones wake up," I said. Hopefully, my dislike of flight would be enough of a reason that people wouldn't start to get suspicious I couldn't floo anywhere.

"I'll stay as well," Remus said. "You lot go enjoy yourselves."

Sissy found an ancient trainer broom, which Sirius pronounced to be in good working order, and gifted to Sarah who squealed in delight. They all vanished through the fireplace in a flash of green smoke, leaving Remus and I alone.

"Why don't we have a chat in the library. Sissy, do not disturb us for any reason," Lupin told the house elf. "Keep an eye on the children upstairs though."

"Yes master," Sissy agreed, bowing. "Would sirs be liking drinks before they goes?"

"We'll take a bottle of Ogdens," Lupin said, which the elf produced along with two tumblers. We walked up the stairs to the Library, where Remus set down the glasses.

"So, we finally get a chance to talk," Remus said, pouring to glasses and handing me one. "I've been meaning to ask you. What is the future like?"

"Well, keep in mind that I was a muggle then too," I told him, taking a sip of the liquor out of curiosity. It had quite the kick to it, but seemed like normal whiskey to me. Not that I really had a refined palate. "So what few things I can tell you wouldn't translate well. As far as I knew, magic was just a fairy tale."

"But then how did you know about Harry and I?" Remus demanded as he sat back in a comfortable red armchair. I took it's mate across from him.

"Books and movies," I said. "Harry Potter was famous as a fictional character. He was my generations Luke Skywalker. Know who that is?"

"Vaguely. I may have heard of him. Some sort of hero right?" Lupin asked.

"Star Wars," I confirmed. "He was a farm boy who became the greatest Jedi of all time. Damn. I'm going to have to live through the prequels again before I get to see Episode VIII. Don't even remember what it was going to be called," I lamented.

"Right. But how was Harry in these books if you didn't know magic was real?" Lupin asked.

"Well, frankly I think that magic wasn't real where and when I'm originally from. That's why it doesn't work on me at all. Potions, spells, mental illusions, don't affect me in the slightest. Though the light bending kind of illusion still works on me."

"Fascinating," Lupin mused. "Can you tell me anything? Dumbledore knows, but the Headmaster loves his secrets."

"Frankly most of what I could have told you is so wildly inaccurate now it wouldn't do you any good," I said. "I can say that you were Harry's favorite teacher though, bar none. Mayhaps you'll live up to that again."

Lupin grinned. "Well, I do hope he's in my house. I'm Head of Gryffindor starting this year you know. McGonagall was loath to give it up, but, well, in the end she had to."

"We'll see," I said, taking another sip of the whiskey and resisting the urge to blanch. I set it down and forgot about the drink. "Personally I think he's a shoo in for Hufflepuff. That's where I always saw myself."

"As long as it's not Slytherin," Lupin said, shaking his head. "Snape would be insufferable if that happened."

"He's probably going to be insufferable for different reasons anyway," I laughed. "Is he still a complete bastard?"

"No. Did you have something to do with that? When I met him after his sabbatical, he was a changed man," Lupin told me. "He's never been clear on just what exactly happened during that year, but he's made a consistent effort to be far more pleasant to me."

"But is he still the second worst teacher at the school? The worst being dead," I asked.

Lupin frowned. "He's certainly harsh with the children, but from what I heard he was a bit of a bully previously. He's still not exactly pleasant and few students like him, but he's more or less fair."

"Damn. I told him he was a prick," I mused. "Wonder what happened?"

"You'll have to ask him. The only person I think he ever talks to is the Headmaster. But, you never answered my question. What is the future like?" Lupin pressed.

"Technology certainly becomes incredible. Computers more powerful than the ones that put men on the moon that can fit in your pocket or in your wrist watch. Holograms and VR that put magical illusions to shame. The internet connecting people across the world. And of course social media, so you can know what banal thoughts everyone has all the time, from the freaking President of the USA to a bum in New Delhi."

"Interesting. I confess, I know relatively little about muggle technology. Sirius is a bit more well versed in it actually. He deliberately immersed himself himself in it to rebel against his family. But what of society?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, good things and bad things. Overall, I'd say people are a lot more tolerant of differences in some ways, like religion or gender or race. In others, political views become kind of extreme and people were divided. The UK voted to cut ties with the EU due to fear that they would lose their national identity or something. To be honest, I didn't really keep up with British stuff, it wasn't all that important to me."

"Were you still a teacher?" Lupin asked.

"Yeah, taught on the mainland and in Hawaii, special education. Lower elementary though, so this business of teaching teens will be different."

"What about family, friends?"

I sighed, picked up the whiskey, and knocked back the whole glass. "I had a family. Mom and dad, two brothers, grandparents, cousins. I miss them all. They're basically dead. Even if I exist, I'm three years old at this point, and that isn't really me. They wouldn't know their 34 year old son. But I didn't have a wife and kids. Here, I do. This is my home now."

Lupin refilled my glass, nodding thoughtfully. "I've thought a lot about what you told me. About the possibility of a different future, where my fear of the monster within me crippled me. I don't want to be that kind of man."

"Well then you won't be. You'll find your place in the world," I assured Lupin. "Hell, you already did. You're a damn good teacher. I assume your condition is still hush hush though?"

"The staff are aware," Lupin said. "The students are not. Nor is the Board."

"Huh. They need to hurry up and pass that law where you can't discriminate based upon race, creed, disability, all that stuff," I said, taking another sip of whiskey. It burned less once you had a bit in you it seemed.

"That was a law?" Lupin asked, perking up slightly.

"Well, a muggle law. Though based upon who became Minister of Magic, I figure that passed here. Fudge is hopeless though."

"Fudge?" Lupin asked. "Who's Fudge?"

"He's...he's the Minister of Magic, isn't he?" I asked.

"No, not at all. I confess, I don't closely follow politics, but I've never even heard of the man. Amelia Bones is the Minister for Magic."

I leaned back, stunned. "Well I'll be damned. Looks like I've had some serious effects on the timeline after all."

"Well, if you had anything to do with the Chamber Incident, that's likely. She was the one who lead the team that killed the Serpent of Slytherin once and for all."

"I thought Dumbledore killed the Supreme Danger Noodle," I mused.

"Supreme Danger Noodle?" Lupin asked, his expression incredulous.

"Sorry, future joke. Snakes were called danger noodles, and since the basilisk is the king of serpents, well, Potterheads had the name as a joke."

"Well. Let's just hope no one in my classes starts calling my statue that," Lupin said, chuckling to himself. "Supreme Danger Noodle. The very idea."

We chatted a bit more after that, then I went to check on the kids. Marie was always a restless sleeper, and woke up when I opened the door. She started crying when she found herself in a strange place, and I picked her up and comforted her. James slept through the whole thing: you had to wake him, or he'd ruin his bedtime.

"Shh, it's OK baby girl. Daddy's here," I whispered, rubbing Marie's back as I bounced her on my knee.

"Where is me?" Marie asked, still confused from sleep.

"Where you belong, kiddo. Where you belong. I'm here." I kissed the top of her head, and Marie settled down, sucking on a strand of her hair as she rested her head on my chest.

We were both where we belonged. Even if this was a brave new world.


	26. Chapter 26

Dinner was a somewhat lavish affair with multiple courses laid out by Sissy, who had spent hours preparing our repast in the kitchen. I thanked the elf, feeling somewhat guilty that I was exploiting her.

You see, House Elves used be Wild Elves, or Svartalves, native to Scandinavia and the Baltic region. Ever heard the legend of the Cobbler and the Elves? These were those kind of elves. They were naturally inclined to be helpful to humans as payment for being left alone and provided with cast off human objects. They mostly mended old things, clothes, pots, shoes, that sort of thing. However, wizards realized that a species naturally inclined to be helpful to humans and with the magic skills to back it up would be well worth taming.

At first, it was innocent enough. Wizards would invite in colonies of elves and provide them with things to fix, in return for safety from their natural predators; red caps, trolls, and panicked muggles. Soon, however, the wizards started demanding more. The elves had natural magic, and in some cases, fought back and demanded fair treatment. The wizards magic was stronger however, and they started using compelling charms and kidnapping young elves and pressing them into labor.

When the elves rebelled against this, the wizards cracked down. The elves had never been warlike, prefering to hide and disguise themselves instead of open confrontation. They were simply no match for wizards when it came to a fight, and soon wizards were enslaving grown elves, forcing them into labor. Then a group of slavers developed a binding enchantment that could force an elf to serve a wizard. The elf was bound to the wizards clothes, and forbidden from touching them. The enchantment could be broken if the elf was given clothes by its master, and that magic lingers today.

At first the elves tried to resist, but the wizards understood the basics of breeding livestock. They bred the resistance out of the elves, layered them with compelling charms, and eventually hunted down all the wild elves. They're extinct as a free and independent species as far as most are concerned, though rumors persist of independent colonies still hiding in isolated places in Scandinavia and Iceland.

The worst part of it is, the elves were always sentient creatures. They were systematically mind controlled, enslaved, and broken, stripped of their identity and heritage. There was elvish art, an elvish language, and a thriving culture. It's all gone now. The elves do not remember, and precious few wizards cared. I personally had sworn that if it was at all possible, I would free Dobby and help him restore the legacy of his people. First, however, came my own family. I was not, after all, an elf or a wizard. I was a husband and father before I was anything else.

This, from what I could tell, was the reason for all the goblin rebellions. Goblins were a lot more warlike than elves, and when wizards had tried to control them, they'd fought back. Of course, sometimes goblins did straight up murder innocent wizards or muggles for no reason other than they hated them, so they were not nearly as innocent as the elves were. Still, it reinforced my opinion that wizards were scary and somewhat monstrous when they pursued the darker parts of human nature.

Not to say that magic makes you evil, but power corrupts. Humans are naturally fallen creatures, and except for the Grace of God, we'd all happily enslave and exploit others. Hell, look at what had happened to the Western World in the future. People increasingly exploited and misused by corporations, treated as inhuman and nothing more than a profit margin. Muggles weren't innocent of it, just look at slavery. I might be proud of my Southern Heritage, but I am deeply ashamed that my ancestors fought for perhaps the worst cause in human history.

However, Libra had a somewhat less dim view of the use of house elves. "Yes, what happened to them was wrong, but it's all in the past. Perhaps we should try and give them more rights at some point, but really most of them are perfectly content to serve. It's what they were made to do."

Thus, when Sissy served me the mashed potatoes, I felt somewhat guilty. Still, I didn't think now was the time to start SPEW. And God as my witness, I was not letting Hermione or anyone else name the cause that. The Elvish Liberation Front or something would be a far better TLA.

Dumbledore and Aurora had come of course. Aurora was a handsome woman of african descent who had a somewhat posh accent that I couldn't tell you the name of, but definitely wasn't the one Tracer from Overwatch had. She had dimples on her cheek from smiling frequently, and she embraced and kissed Sirius with enthusiasm.

"David, Libra, this is Aurora Sinestra, my girl," Sirius said by way of introduction. "Harry, she'll be teaching you astronomy."

"Good to meet you all at last," Aurora said, shaking our hands.

"Hi Auntie Aurora," Harry said. "My mum knows a lot about the stars, we went the the Mauna Kea observatory a lot!"

Aurora appeared somewhat taken aback by Harry's somewhat familiar tone, but Libra put her hand on Harry's shoulder and intervened. "Harry, you should call her Professor Sinistra. We don't call teachers aunty here."

"Oh," Harry said, looking baffled. "Well why not? That's what we called all my other teachers and what all the kids called you."

"Things are different here kid," I said. "Do what your mother says. Best call all your teachers Professor Lastname. Even Uncle Remus while you're at school."

"No, it's quite alright for now," Aurora said, smiling and putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "After all, I am dating his godfather."

"Perhaps you can convince him to make an honest woman out of her, Harry," Remus said in a stage whisper. "They've been dating for three years now."

"I'm a patient woman," Aurora said, smiling and putting an arm around Sirius' waist. "Besides, it's not as though I have much time for a family, what with my career."

"Kids are fun," Harry said. "Plus, my parents really seemed to like making them."

Libra and I both turned beat red, and Sirius roared with laughter. "That's OK kid, we can practice even if it doesn't result in kids just yet," he said, slapping Harry on the back.

Harry, in turned, looked horrified. "But only married people can do that! Uncle Sirius, you better pray, because you're making Jesus sad!"

Sirius looked abashed now, as it was Aurora's turn to laugh while Libra and I continued to be mortified.

"Harry dear, I don't think they're Christians," Libra told him. "They can choose to live how they want."

"Oh," Harry said, looking crestfallen. "Sorry."

"Does that mean they're going to hell?" Sarah asked in the sort of piping loud voice that small children reserve for the most epically embarrassing statements they can make.

"Sarah dear, why don't we get you some of that nice mac and cheese Sissy made for you," I said, scooping my daughter up while Libra profusely apologize to the very amused couple.

"I didn't realize you were so...spiritual," Aurora said, hiding a smile. "I knew muggles had taken in Harry, but I hadn't thought you were that sort. Usually, once people see magic, they tend to put aside that sort of thing."

"Personally I find the existence of magic only argues more strongly for the existence of God," Libra said calmly. "But I don't think that's the sort of thing one should discuss over dinner with those we've only just met. The children, however, appear to need more instruction in the area of manners."

"Teach this one while you're at it," Aurora said, needling Sirius in the side. "He still thinks belching the school song over dinner is appropriate behavior."

"Hey, where's the old man?" I asked as I set Sarah down at the table in front of a bowl of mac and cheese. Sissy had been more than happy to whip some up at her request, and she didn't even complain it wasn't Kraft.

"He should be just behind me," Aurora said as she sat down next to Sirius. "I wouldn't advise waiting for him, he is a bit slow to move these days."

"We should at least let the children eat," Remus advised. "They all look hungry."

"Sounds good," Sirius said, and reached for the bowl of dinner rolls. He paused when my family bowed their heads, taking Harry's hand. Remus did the same, and after a moment, Aurora did as well. Remus and Sirius had gotten used to the fact that we prayed before meals while visiting us, and Aurora seemed polite enough to just go with it.

"Dear Heavenly father," I said. "Thank you for delivering us safely back to Britain. Keep us safe, lord, from those who would do us harm. I pray a special blessing and protection for my eldest son, Harry, while he starts school at Hogwarts in the next few months. We ask God that you would keep him safe from Tom and his minions, and that you would pour out your blessing on Harry while he's at school. And please, please God, don't let him or Sarah break their necks on those contraptions. Thank you for the food and company, and may our meal and time together be blessed. Amen."

The kids dropped their hands and immediately went for the food. James happily chewed on a roll and some ham that Libra served up for him. Marie fussed over mac and cheese like her sister, upset that I made her try some vegetables with the typical "no veggies no dessert" admonishment. Sarah on the other hand happily tried a number of new things, especially when she saw her favorite Uncle Sirius trying them.

Harry, on the other hand, was his usual ravenous self and ate everything put infront of him. "Dese grinds da kine," he told Sissy. "Mahalo."

Sissy blinked her large eyes, looking confused as she cleared away empty trays.

"He means that the food is very tasty, and says thank you," Libra translated. "I'm afraid he's been rather americanized."

"Oh, Sissy is very pleased young master is enjoying himself," the house elf said, curtsying in her old curtain. "Sissy is saying Mahalo as well if that is pleasing mistress."

"It means thank you," Harry said, waving happily. "And of course! Everybody should live aloha."

"I must say, it is a bit of a shock to hear the famous Harry Potter with such an unusual accent," Aurora said, sipping at her glass of pumpkin juice. They really drank the stuff. It was utterly disgusting, and none of my kids were willing to try it at all (though Libra had taken a small sip with a wistful expression on her face). "I hope none of the other students tease you about it, Harry. We don't tend to get many students from outside Britain and Ireland."

"Oh, I'm Harry Potter Murphy," Harry said in a somewhat dismissive tone. "I was adopted a long time ago. I don't even remember my other parents, though I'm sure they were wonderful and loved me very much."

Harry's offhand remark caused Sirius to look pained, and Remus to grimace slightly. Aurora patted Sirius on the back, and he swallowed and changed the topic of conversation. "So, Harry, what do you want for your birthday?"

"Well I did want the new Zelda, but I gave Zack my Super Nintendo cause there's no electricity here," Harry said. "It's too bad, dad says it was the best game of all time, except for Chrono Trigger but that won't be out for a few more years."

Oh crap. Harry let slip stuff like this every once in awhile, and frankly I did too. It was hard to keep straight in my head what had and hadn't happened. Fortunately, none of the adult wizards had the slightest clue what Harry had said, so it all went right over their heads.

"Harry wants a broom," Sarah supplied for her brother. "A fast one so he can take me flying on it."

"Oh, yeah, that would be cool," Harry said enthusiastically. "Do they have flying classes at Hogwarts? Oh! And what about quidditch? I've heard about it but I never got to see a game."

"Oh no," Aurora and Remus groaned at the same time.

Sirius, for his part, lit up like the Fourth of July. "Well, Harry, you see, I used to play Quidditch with your father. I was a beater, he was a chaser. We played for Gryffindor of course, which is the best house, you should be in it-"

"I was in Ravenclaw you know," Aurora protested, shoving Sirius lightly. "We even played against each other for two years. I was a pretty decent seeker if I do say so myself."

"Yeah, well, you never beat us, so obviously Gryffindor is better, now, Harry, the kind of broom you want for quidditch is-"

Sirius kept Sarah and Harry totally enraptured for a good 15 minutes with tales of his and James Potter's exploits on a broom. While he did so, Libra leaned close to me.

"We should let Sirius get him a broom if that's what he wants."

"Firsties aren't allowed them," I protested lamely.

"Yes, but he'll have flying lessons, and he'd love it. He's old enough to have a real broom now, David. And he'll be with Sirius when he rides it, so it will be safe."

I groaned inwardly, but reluctantly nodded. "Fine. You tell him he has our blessing to get Harry a damned flying toothpick. Though I don't want Sarah on that thing until Harry has at least a year of flying lessons under his belt."

"That's a reasonable stipulation," Libra agreed.

Dumbledore didn't make an appearance until the dishes were being cleared away for pudding. Marie, for her part, was extremely disappointed when pudding did not, in fact, involve what she would have called actual pudding.

"Want nana pudding," Marie huffed when presented with the creme brulee. "Wit nilla cookies."

"Nilla ookies!" James agreed enthusiastically.

"Try it love, it's very good," Libra encouraged.

Just then, the fireplace flared green, and Dumbledore stepped out of the fire. When I got a good look at him, I stood up in shock, my mouth hanging slightly agape.

Dumbledore had never looked like a spring chicken as long as I had known him. He looked like, well, Dumbledore. The classic, old but timeless wizard with a long white beard, merry eyes, and a zest for life.

The old man who stepped out of the fire did not just look old, he looked ancient. He leaned heavily on a cane as he toddered forward, and Sirius sprang to his feet hurried to offer the old man his arm, leading him to a chair which Dumbledore sat down in with a heavy sigh. The Headmaster's eyes had dark circles under him, and his cheeks were somewhat sunken. His skin was sagging and sallow, and he had a lean, hungry look about him.

"Thank you, Sirius my boy," Dumbledore wheezed as he sat down in his seat. "I apologize; I was napping, you see, and no one wanted to wake me as I find rest so often escapes me."

"Dumbledore...what happened to you?" I whispered, still standing.

Dumbledore looked at me, but failed to meet my eyes. "I fear age has caught up to me, Mr. Murphy. This life no longer holds the luster for me it once did."

And then it clicked. This was my fault. I sat down slowly, feeling as though I'd been eating rocks. "Goddammit, you did it. I told you not to," I whispered, tears coming to my eyes. "I told you that damned thing was a trap. You've been using it."

No one but Libra next to me heard me (and probably Marie, but she was busy poking at her dessert) , but Dumbledore seemed to realize what I had said. He bowed his head, a look of complete and utter weariness coming over him. I stared, unable to think of what to do or say, until my revery was broken by Sissy hurrying forward.

"Now, master Dumbledore sir, Sissy is talking with the elves at Hogwarts, and they is saying you is not eating like yous should! If yous is wanting dessert, yous is eating your supper like everyone else."

"Ah, I am not overly hungry, Sissy, but thank you," Dumbledore said, smiling gently down at the tiny little elf.

Sissy, however, was having none of it, and planted her fists on her hips and frowned at the old wizard. "Sissy is not believing master. Master is eating properly. Or does master not think Sissy is a good elf? Sissy would be so ashamed if master is not even trying her food. Sissy was slaving away all day over hot stoves and ovens, and now the Great Master Dumbledore won't even try her cooking. Sissy is ashamed."

Sissy didn't look ashamed in the slightest, but Dumbledore chuckled softly. "Very well, a small plate, I think. Perhaps some of that pasta I see on the young gentleman's plate."

"Master is eating the macaroni and cheese! Oh, happy day! Sissy is getting a bowl for master straight away."

Sissy brought back a heaping bowl of pasta with the thick and creamy sauce (I had had some, it was excellent). Dumbledore took a spoonful as Sissy watched with narrowed eyes, putting it in his mouth and chewing. He smiled and nodded, swallowing. "Very good, Sissy. Thank you. I shall enjoy some."

"And then master is eating pudding as well. Master is all skin and bones. Sissy isn't letting Master Dumbledore leave until he is eating properly." With that, Sissy bustled away, carrying more empty plates.

"I wonder sometimes if your elf isn't related to Molly Weasley," Dumbledore said wryly to Sirius.

"Oh God save me from that woman," Sirius said in an exasperated tone. "Did you know, she's been dropping hints that she'd like to be one of Aurora's bridesmaids? Honestly. Just because the woman eloped doesn't mean every wedding is a chance for her to relieve her own fantasies."

"Ha! I knew it!" I said, slapping the table. "She was a bit quick on the draw to invite herself to our wedding!"

"Well, hopefully she's over her disappointment by now," Libra said calmly. "We eloped ourselves if you remember."

"It was wuv, twue wuv," I said, kissing my wife on the cheek.

"You're not getting away with that," Aurora said, giving Sirius a flat look. "I want a real wedding. And you can't claim to be a pauper who couldn't afford it."

"Mum and dad's wedding was OK," Harry told Sirius. "The pastor did the Princess Bride bit. Then I got to have a sleepover at Olivia's house. I wonder what she's doing?"

"Maybe we could look them up," I told Harry. "But some other time. So, Dumbledore. How's tricks?"

Everyone had been more or less avoiding looking at the old man, who was slowly and unenthusiastically eating his pasta under the supervision of Sissy, who was hovering about in the background making disapproving noises whenever Dumbledore stopped eating.

"I am very glad to see you all again," Dumbledore said, wiping his mouth with a napkin held in a trembling hand. "Harry, you've grown into a handsome young man. And I am glad to make the acquaintance of the rest of your children."

"Hi uncle," Marie waved. She looked pointedly at Dumbledore's Creme Brulee. "You eat dat?"

Dumbledore chuckled and made to give it to Marie, but Sissy sniffed and produced another for the girl. Libra, however, pushed it away. "Thank you, Sissy, but she's had quite enough. If you're still hungry, love, you can have some more carrots or ham."

Marie looked disappointed, but accepted the redirection to gnaw on another carrot.

"Everything is prepared for you," Dumbledore continued. "The house is well warded, the staff ready to meet you. I'm glad you had the chance to meet Aurora; she's been teaching astronomy for six years now."

"Seven, Headmaster," Aurora said gently. "Next year will be my eighth."

"Ah, how time passes us all by," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "Still I-"

"Who knows?" I asked, interrupting him. "Remus is clued in, we did that two years ago. What about others? Snape? McGonagall? The Order?"

Dumbledore paused, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Perhaps now is not the time to discuss-"

"I think it is," Libra interjected. "We're going to be trusting the Hogwarts staff with an awful lot. Perhaps not everyone needs to be fully appraised of everything, but everyone needs to know just what Harry's presence means. Not knowing puts the staff and students at risk. We're not going to suggest you inform the entire student body, but the professors need to know."

"Know what?" Aurora asked, looking between my wife and I and Dumbledore. "Why would the students be in danger? Headmaster, if something is wrong, I have a right to know."

"If Harry's in danger I need to know as well," Sirius growled. "He's my godson."

"Some secrets are best kept hidden," Dumbledore said. "The more that know, the more danger they can be in."

"Neat theory. Tell me, should I have kept it to myself that Sirius was innocent? Should I have never told you that a basilisk was in your school?" I demanded. "People need to know. Not everyone, no need to spread mass panic. But at least some secrets, like why we left Hawaii to come to Hogwarts, need to be made known."

"I-" Dumbledore began, then paused and sighed. "Very well. He is your son. I am no longer as present as I once was. I would urge caution, at least."

"Tom's not dead," I said, looking to Sirius and Aurora. They looked at me blankly, and Libra spoke up.

"He means You-Know-Who. He was banished into a spectral form, but never killed. He will return. Possibly very soon, if he has not already," Libra said.

"What?" Aurora gasped, turning slightly green. She looked to Sirius. "Did you know this?"

"No," Sirius growled, glaring at Lupin and Dumbledore. "But I suspected something was wrong. What was the amulet Regulus had?"

"It was a phylactery known as a Horcrux," Libra said. "It contained a piece of Tom Riddle's soul, anchoring him to this world. Tom Riddle is the true name of You-Know-Who. Most of them have been destroyed. At least two more remain."

"A phylactery? Horcruxes?" Aurora said, looking confused. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Be grateful," Sirius said, patting her hand. "I hadn't heard those exact terms before, but I've heard about those kind of rituals. They're Dark. The very worst kind of magic."

"And you weren't going to tell us?" Aurora demanded of Dumbledore. "Why?"

"Because Harry is one of them," I answered before Dumbledore could. "And Dumbledore's been researching how to get it out of him before anyone tries something dumb."

"Oh. Oh my God," Aurora gasped. She looked at Harry with wide eyes. "So he-"

"Is going to kick Tom's ass," Harry declared. "I have to beat him. It's the only way to get it out. I'm like, indestructible or something because horcruxes get like a 2 up invul save."

When absolutely no one else got that, I sighed. "I...maybe taught him how to play Warhammer 40k. And Dungeons and Dragons."

"I like the Blood Angels," Harry said happily. "Can wizards get power armor like Librarians? Dad says no but I bet we could make some. Otherwise, I want to be a spellblade like from Eberron."

I coughed. "Um, Harry, I don't think anyone else knows what it is. And don't try to explain it, now's not the time. Basically, I agree we shouldn't tell everyone everyone that Tom's back and Harry's his soul anchor, but the staff need to know. Tom probably isn't aware that he's bound to Harry and is going to try to kill him because of a prophecy."

"Thank you for informing me," Aurora said, sounding slightly dazed. "I...I'm not sure what to do, but I can tell you I'll do everything in my power to keep your son safe. I'm not much of a fighter but-"

"-but we'll do our damnedest," Sirius finished. He nodded to me. "Thanks for trusting me as well. I know...I know our relationship has been a bit rocky. But I swear, I will never let anything happen to Harry so long as I live."

"What of the other matter?" Lupin asked, his eyes fixed on me. "That is perhaps even more dangerous knowledge."

"It is, and it's the sort of thing that people not knowing it won't be in any danger," I said, nodding to Lupin. "Some others will have to be told as it affects them. We'll figure that out later."

Aurora and Sirius both looked curious, but seemed to accept that I would tell them if and when they needed to know.

"Harry will still be safe at Hogwarts," Dumbledore promised. "I shall remain in Hogsmeade, nearby in case of attack. I am not the man I once was, but-"

"But you didn't listen," I growled. "We'll have a talk about that later. It might be my own damned fault, but I thought you had more sense then you're showing." I took a deep breath, and forced myself to calm. "But I do have to thank you. You've worked hard for Harry, and I appreciate you getting Libra and me jobs."

That particular remark really seemed to get everyone's attention, even Libra's. Well, everyone who didn't think using carrots to make little vampire fangs was a good use of your time anyway. Sarah and Marie were both playing with their food, and James was giggling at his sisters making faces with carrots stuck in their mouths.

"Sorry, got to see to the kids," I said, standing and scooping up Marie and James. "Come on Sarah, you're done. Let's go see what Uncle Sirius put in your bedroom."

Libra stayed behind, and later told me that Dumbledore seemed exhausted just by the short conversation. However, he did give her some good information on her estranged family.

Walden was, as I had thought, working for the Ministry. He was still basically their hatchet man when it came to dangerous magical creatures. However, Dumbledore said he'd been demoted and passed over for promotion because it was suspected he'd also murdered several muggle families. No one was able to prove anything, and he had powerful friends (mostly Lucius Malfoy) so he was never fired. Libra's mother was still around, considered a polite society lady who had been tragically brutalized by her husband, who had been a marked Death Eater and had killed her squib daughter.

"Well, she's in for a pleasant surprise then," I said. Libra looked away, and I realized that maybe this wasn't the time for levity. I put my arm around her and drew her close. "Hey, it will be OK. Maybe your mother regrets what she's done, and you can reconcile."

"I don't know that I ever want to see her again," Libra said quietly. She shook her head, then looked at me and tried to smile. "But maybe...I don't know. David, I know this has to be hard for you. You can't ever see your mother again."

"Yeah, I think about that sometimes," I admitted. "But...there isn't any point in dwelling on it."

We sat in silence in our room for a while, until I took a deep breath. "I think I know what's wrong with Dumbledore."

"I was wondering about that. You think it's something you did? David, what if he's just-"

"He took the damned Stone," I growled. "I'd bet just about anything on that. God! Why didn't I see it before? The old fool was always obsessed with the dead and the past. He took the Resurrection Stone!"

"But… I thought it was destroyed," Libra said. "He said he destroyed the Ring Horcrux."

"I'm willing to bet he did, but that the stone wasn't destroyed by whatever they did. It's supposed to be a gift from Death himself. To lure those who gaze into it into Death's realm by showing them visions of their departed loved ones who torment them by calling out for them. You know the story of the Deathly Hallows right?"

"Better than you I should imagine," Libra said. "I was raised on it. But...surely Dumbledore knew it was a fool's errand to use the Stone, that it would only lead to his demise."

"I don't know how long he managed to resist it's lure, but it's obvious that he's fading, and fast. He's probably been looking into the stone for years now. Hopefully, it's not too late, and we can pull him back from the brink. He's vital when it comes to opposing Tom. He's the only wizard strong enough to go toe to toe with him. And this is the year he made his return."

"I'm sure that enough has changed that whatever happened in those books won't this time around," Libra told me. "And perhaps Dumbledore isn't as vital as you seem to think. So much is different, David. Don't let what you think you know blind you to present realties."

"You're right about that. Clearly, things are different. Did you know Amelia Bones is the Minister of Magic?"

"Minister for Magic," Libra corrected. "And no. It was supposed to be Cornelius Fudge wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Honestly, I think having someone else in the job is probably a good thing. Sounds like she's known as the slayer of Supreme Danger Noodle."

"That is an extremely silly name David. Please, when others are about, call it the Serpent of Slytherin. Otherwise you just sound like a moron."

"Funny, I thought I did that anyway," I said, grinning at Libra.

She shook her head and rose. "I'm going to bed. It's such a lovely four poster. Care to join me?"

"Of course, even if you did get me fixed," I said.

"A vasectomy is hardly getting 'fixed.' I would rather regret it if that did ever happen."

Well, I already had a lot of regrets about what had happened. First getting assaulted by Black, now having Dumbledore almost die because of my actions? It sound like maybe I'd jumped before I'd thought to hard.

 _Authors Note:_

 _I love Molly Weasley's character. I would find her extremely irritating as a person. Thus, while I'm not going to descend into bashing the Weasleys, David and Libra both share a mutual distaste for the Weasley matriarch. Not because she's a bad person, but because her character traits are the kind that would rub them the wrong way._


	27. Chapter 27

Dumbledore came back the next day for a private meeting with Libra and I. Sirius and Aurora took the kids to Hogwarts for a tour of the castle, and I have to say, I was a tad jealous. Of course, I'd get to see the whole place soon enough, but I was this close to seeing a childhood fantasy of mine come to life, and having to wait was sort of a drag.

Once we were alone in the library though, Dumbledore spoke before I could get a word in. "I suppose you must think I am very foolish."

"Well, that depends. If you took the Resurrection Stone, then yes, I think you're an idiot. If it's something else though I'm about to look really stupid," I said.

Dumbledore sighed and shook his head. "I have the Stone. I assumed your words concerning it at first meant the curse laid upon it by Tom. However, as per your advice, I used Fiendfyre upon the Stone and ring without touching or using it."

"It survived Fiendfyre?" Libra asked, incredulous. "That's supposed to destroy anything."

"Wait, let me get this straight. You literally unleashed the most destructive force known to mankind short of nuking the thing or shooting it into the sun, and you somehow thought it would be a good idea to then pick it up?" I demanded.

"I did not immediately do so," Dumbledore replied. "For many months, I did not touch the Stone, for as you said, it was obviously of unnatural origin. However, my research into your sons horcrux and how to remove it was proving fruitless. I became desperate. I took up the Stone, seeking the wisdom of the dead in my pursuit of helping Harry."

And just like that, all my criticism, all my anger, all my disbelief at Dumbledore's folly evaporated like liquid nitrogen on a hot summer day. Libra and I sat in stun silence, and I felt tears coming to my eyes. I had been angry at a man who had been willing to sacrifice everything for my son.

"We...we apologize," Libra said, taking my hand and squeezing it. "We thought...we didn't realize…"

"All is forgiven," Dumbledore said gently. "But do not blame yourselves over much. My time is coming to an end, as all men's time does. I am 110 years old. That is a good, long time on this earth. I have accomplished much in this life, and will attempt to hang on until I have done one thing more. I believe I am close, so very close, to finally cracking the secrets of the horcrux once and for all and ridding Harry of his curse, and perhaps averting the prophecy forever."

"No," I said quietly. "No, I was wrong. I should...I should have told you. You lived another five years, and you were killed by the poison, not age. This is all my fault. I'm so, so sorry I misjudged you. Again."

"Do not trouble yourself on this matter, David. I did this out of love for Harry. And, to be frank, I understand the source of your misjudgement. It is why I have avoided delving too deeply into the knowledge you possess: attempting to slavishly follow prophecy or foreknowledge dooms us to repeat past mistakes."

"So much of what I thought I knew is worthless," I said, hanging my head in shame. "I've acted as though it's all going to come to pass, but that simply isn't the case."

"It is not worthless, but it is dangerous," Dumbledore said. "If Voldemort had never gained knowledge of the prophecy concerning Harry, could it have ever come to pass? I doubt it. It was Voldemort's belief and action that made the prophecy self fulfilling."

"As to my failing health, perhaps the Stone is the reason for it, but have you not considered that I am, in fact, an old man? I am 110 years old now. That is a long life, even for a wizard."

"Hogwash," Libra said, her eyes gleaming, through with tears or frustration I couldn't tell. "Most wizards live well past that, and you're a very powerful one."

"Perhaps, but I have also been through a great deal more than your average wizard. Perhaps if I had been allowed to live out my dream of quietly teaching I would have lived a somewhat duller, longer life, but instead people kept dragging me away from my research to fight Dark Lords. Not, however, that I blame them for this. Those men needed to be fought. And I do not regret that I have spent the last six years fighting against Tom's return."

"He's still coming, isn't he?" I asked quietly. "He was supposed to return this year."

"I do not think he shall," Dumbledore informed me. "I have kept an eye on Quirinus Quirrell. I pulled a few strings, and he got a job he longed for: the Dark Arts position at Castelobruxo. He is far away from the seduction of Tom, and is teaching in a position he loves. He will not aide in Tom's return now."

"That is good. Harry needs more time to grow. And you need more time to discern how to remove that horcrux," Libra said.

"Time he shall have," Dumbledore declared. "And time I shall have, I hope. I am retiring at the end of this year, and shall devote my remaining days to puzzling out how to do so. I confess, I have, perhaps, spent more time that I should have peering into the Stone, old memories, and pouring over ancient texts than is healthy, but I have so enjoyed a good research project. It reminds me of my younger days, when I was working on the properties of Dragon's Blood with dear Nicholas. Which brings me to my one question of the evening: You mentioned the Sorcerer's Stone. Was this the item created by Nicholas Flamel?"

"Yes, but bringing it to Hogwarts is a bad idea. You were unable to erect defences that could keep Voldemort away. Harry and two other first years got past all of them and retrieved it."

"I believe that was a case of that other me being too clever for his own good. You see, I would have brought the Philosopher's Stone to Hogwarts not to keep it safe, but to lure forth Tom and his servants, that I might banish or imprison them. You mentioned the Mirror of Desire Backwards. I take it this is the Mirror of Erised?"

"If that's the one that makes you see your hearts desire then yes. I just couldn't remember what it was called, though I knew it had the backwards writing on it."

Dumbledore nodded, stroking his beard. It wasn't as full or silky as it had been, instead being wispy and somewhat dull now, though not dirty. Just sort of faded. "Then I think I can discern what I had planned. The traps would have appeared complex on the outside, but instead would have simply been to distract and frustrate Tom. He always was impatient and arrogant. Defeating my traps with ease would have made him feel as though he had outsmarted me. He would have become overly bold and his sense of caution would have fled."

"Then, when he arrived at the Mirror, he would have been slowly trapped. His soul, or that of his minion, slowly sucked into the Mirror. There, he would have lived out his deepest desires and fantasies, twisted though they may be, forever imprisoned within his own mind. I could have then either interrogated the minion to learn of Tom's plans and location at my leisure, or simply locked Tom away. I would have been able to tell Harry of the Mirrors location, and, when he was old and full of years, he could of freed what was left of Tom. Then, Harry would have easily destroyed Tom, and in the process, destroyed himself, forever removing the threat."

"Harry will be killed when Tom is?" Libra demanded.

Dumbledore shrugged. "I think it likely. Not because of the Prophecy, but because of the nature of horcruxes and the soul. Having a bit of Tom inside of Harry means that when that soul is finally banished, it will be sucked away, weakening and possibly killing Harry in the process. I cannot be sure, but the spirits within the Stone seem to confirm this."

"Well. Shit." I looked at Libra, but she seemed as stunned as I was. I supposed that meant the "just shoot him" plan was off the table.

"Do not trouble yourselves. I believe we have weakened Tom a great deal. He has only two remaining horcruxes. His followers have been rooted out and imprisoned. The Serpent of Slytherin has been destroyed and the Chamber of Secrets revealed. While I do not doubt Harry will still face a great many trials, with your support and aide I believe he shall overcome them."

"You'll be there too, right?" I asked Dumbledore, trying to smile and fighting back tears. "You are the Greatest Wizard of the Age after all."

"I fear that my time on campaign is at an end," Dumbledore said with a wan smile. "I shall continue to support Harry, and your family, but my role will be that of an advisor and teacher, not a warrior."

Well, if that didn't sum me up too I don't know what did. Neither Libra or myself were fighters, and frankly we didn't really have aspirations to be. Sure, we were going to acquire some guns again (probably needing magic to do so now thanks to new laws) but we didn't expect to use them as anything but a last resort.

We chatted awkwardly with Dumbledore for a while after that, until the old man simply fell asleep in the armchair he was sitting in. We quietly stood and made our way downstairs.

"Well, that didn't go how I expected it to," I said. "Now I feel like a jerk."

"No matter how many times we meet him, I keep thinking less of him than I should," Libra said with a sigh. "I was ready to join you in lambasting Dumbledore and his choices, but…"

"But wouldn't we have done the same thing?"

"I'd like to think I would have," Libra admitted. "Though it's unlikely either of us could use the Stone."

"Still, I think he's wrong. That Stone is a trap. He's being lured into death, slowly losing his will to live because of it. I just…"

"Can't bring yourself to tell him to stop?" Libra asked. I nodded, and she sighed, leaning against my shoulder as we sat on the couch in the living room. "I couldn't either. I'd do anything for our children. Even listen to the whispers of the damned."

Dumbledore left an hour later, taking the floo back to Hogwarts. "I shall see you shortly. I am afraid I am simply not up to taking the journey with you. I look forward to introducing you to the rest of the staff, Mr. Murphy. Severus in particular is looking forward to meeting you."

"Oh. Good?" I said, trying to smile. "I'm, uh, looking forward to meeting him again as well."

Dumbledore chuckled, and a bit of the old twinkle came back into his eye. "Perhaps you shall see that some changes are much for the better."

Well, honestly, you could replace Snape with a literal ass and that donkey would probably have made a better teacher than him. But I didn't say that.

The kids came back from their playtime with their uncles, tired but happy. We went out for dinner to, unfortunately, McDonalds. It had a play area though and really the kids had only been to a McDonalds a grand total of half a dozen times or so. There had been three on the Big Island, but they were pretty far away. Mostly we stopped at the one in Waimea when we went through there to get to Kohala. Sirius and Remus enjoyed the novelty of eating at a muggle establishment, though Sirius admitted he ordered take out fairly frequently.

"Sissy's a great cook and all, but I confess I have a weakness for Chinese and pizza," Sirius told me. He took a handful of fries and shoved them in his mouth. He started to speak, but Libra glared at him. Sirius rolled his eyes, but did chew and swallow first. "This is pretty tasty though."

"It's a bit greasy, but it seems a good place to go when you have little ones," Lupin observed, nodding towards the play area where all the kids (even Harry) were running about and shouting.

"Speaking of Sissy, do you know the history of house elves?" I asked.

Libra groaned and covered her eyes with her hand, but Sirius shook his head while taking another bite of Big Mac, while Lupin's mouth thinned and he nodded jerkily.

"What, that bad?" Sirius asked after he'd swallowed.

"It's bad," Lupin said quietly. "They're worse off than werewolves are really. At least no one's tried to enslave us."

"What? Enslave? They like it. Ask Sissy, she practically runs my house but she's always bothering me for more work. Keeps telling me I have to have kids so she can have more to do."

Lupin and I laid out the history of the House Elves, much to Sirius' growing horror. When we got back, he summoned Sissy, and with tears in his eyes, got down on one knee.

"Sissy, I've been a fool. I'm so, so, sorry. If only I'd known about how I felt I-"

"Sissy thinks master is very kind, but he should be proposing to Mistress Aurora, not Is," she declared.

"What?" Sirius said, blinking in confusion. Harry hooted with laughter, and Sarah covered her mouth and giggled. Libra and I chuckled, but Lupin rolled his eyes and kicked Sirius.

"Oh, no, I mean, er, would you like to be a free elf, Sissy?" Sirius managed.

Sissy gasped in horror. "What? Sissy is doing such a good job! She didn't think...is master not happy?"

"No, no you're great," Sirius said hurriedly. "It's just...well, I found out about the real history of House Elves. That you were enslaved, mind controlled, all sorts of horrid things. And, well, I don't want to do that to you. You could have whatever you want."

"Anything?" Sissy asked, her eyes gleaming dangerously.

Sirius swallowed and nodded. "Anything. A thousand galleons, your own house, clothes, a political campaign, a-"

Sissy popped away suddenly. Sirius looked at where she had been blankly, then sighed and stood, dusting off his hands. "Well, I had hoped she'd let me do something for her. But, well, I guess she just wanted her freedom. I-"

There was another pop, and Sissy returned, holding a very ornate golden ring. Its main stone was a black opal, which was surrounded by emeralds and sapphires that seemed to burn with an inner light. Sissy took Sirius' hand and pressed the ring into it. "Sissy expects a most lovely wedding. Oh, I want to be baking three cakes, and sewing all the dresses, and-"

"You...you want me to get married?" Sirius asked, sounding stunned.

Sissy nodded, clasping her hands together and sighing happily. "Oh, it will be so much work, Sissy simply cannot wait! And Master should be having lots of children. None of this one or two nonsense other wizards be talking about. Sissy is wanting all the other house elves to be jealous she is having so much work."

"But...you're a slave," Sirius said. "You should want freedom."

Sissy clicked her tongue in disgust. "Master is thinking Sissy is a witch. She is not. She is a house elf. Elves was never not working for wizards. Master is sounding like Sissy's cousin. He is very odd. He is always complaining about how much work he is having, and that he is not getting wages. All the other elves is thinking he is lucky, getting work for such great masters like he is."

"Sissy...is your cousin Dobby?" I asked.

Sissy looked up at me, her eyes widening. "Oh, master, do not worry, Sissy is not like her cousin at all. Even American squibs is hearing about what a bad elf Dobby is. Sissy is ashamed."

"You shouldn't be," I said. "Dobby is...well, he could be, a hero. And perhaps he's just the sort of elf we need."

Sissy shrugged. "Master is doing as master likes. Sissy is always hearing squibs and americans are odd. No disrespect to master and his family of course. Theys can choose what kind of elf they is wanting." Then she turned back to Sirius. "Now, Sissy has been looking at masters clothes, and master is needing new robes for the wedding. Sissy knows master hasn't been reading the catalogues she is leaving in his room, but Sissy is not going to be embarrassed by master at his own wedding. All the other elves will know Sissy is a good elf, who is taking good care of her master, now-"

Sissy rambled on like this for quite a while, taking a rather confused looking Sirius by the arm and taking him off to measure him for his own wedding clothes.

"Well, that didn't go like I think it would," I observed once they were gone.

Libra threw her hands up in the air. "I told you it would! Whatever happened in the past, House Elves are happy now. So they've forgotten the truth about the past. Most people have. Just let it go."

"But mum, that's not what you're supposed to do with the truth," Harry protested. "Don't you remember what dad said when the two of you met?"

Libra and I exchanged a look, completely baffled.

"No, I don't think I do," Libra said slowly.

Harry nodded firmly. "'The Truth shall set you free.' John 8:32. The elves need to know the truth so they can be free."

"Huh. You know, I'd completely forgotten that," I mused. "I mostly remember er, not being very kind to your mother." I remembered swearing and knocking Libra into a wall. Not the best first impression for your future bride to have of you.

"I remember being scared out of my wits," Libra said.

"Well, I remember the truth, and it did set us free," Harry declared. "Maybe this other elf can help us."

I grinned. "You know, your mother did always say she wanted a house elf."

Of course, getting Dobby proved to be a lot harder than just asking for him. House elves, as it turned out, where not cheap, and evey a pretty terrible one could cost 1000 galleons (Sirius had paid 1700 for Sissy despite her being young and inexperienced at the time). Plus, we were scheduled to take the train to Hogsmeade in another week once term ended at Hogwarts. Sirius, however, had a cunning plan.

Well, a plan. I'm not sure how clever it really was.

"Well, since I'm apparently getting married, it actually wouldn't be unusual for me to try to either buy another house elf or rent some," Sirius said. "Despite Sissy's request. And, I should probably actually pay a visit to my relatives that I've been avoiding, like cousin Sissy. Did you know, I named Sissy after her? Kind of rude to Sissy. The elf, not my cousin. She's awful."

"You have told Aurora about this, haven't you?" Libra asked. "She does have to say yes first."

"It is alright, Sissy understands," the elf said as she brought us tea and cookies in the sitting room. The kids had covered the floor in toys and were building a miniature castle. Apparently, magical blocks had some sort of sticking charm on them, though Marie was a little frustrated she couldn't always get hers to stick.

"If master is not wanting to get married," Sissy continued, getting choked up as tears appeared in her large eyes, "Sissy will just have to be a poor, lonely elf, with not enough work and-"

"Alright, alright, I'll bloody well ask her," Sirius said, throwing his hands up in the air. "I suppose I've been putting it off long enough. I've a date with her tonight. I was just going to take her to the Three Broomsticks for drinks, but we'll just go to a nicer place. Maybe La Soirée Enchantée."

"Well it's french, so it's got to be fancy," I commented. "But really, don't feel like you have to get hitched just for some dumb plan."

"No, no Sissy's probably right. Besides, I did tell her she could ask for anything," Sirius said. "And Aurora has been dropping hints she's getting a tad impatient."

"Sissy was knowing master is very wise," the house elf commented, then vanished with a pop.

"You really sure you want to go making them more independent?" Sirius asked, eyeing the empty space where Sissy had stood. "She practically runs this place already."

"That depends. Do you really want to be a hero to your godson?" I asked.

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Well, it's better than being a villain I suppose. Speaking of which, how do you feel about me getting him a snake? I really, really don't want him to end up in Slytherin, but, I do feel like I owe him one."

We did get to see Olivia and Fred the day before we left for Hogsmeade. Olivia's mother wasn't in the picture anymore, Fred having divorced her. I didn't get all the details, but I felt bad for both of them. They'd been dumb kids who had a very difficult child to take care of. In the end, their family became a casualty of statistics. Couples with special needs children have about double the divorce rate of the general population, even for somewhat milder cases like Olivia.

We met at a pub in Little Winging, one of the places I'd visited with Fred all those years ago. Fred introduced us to his new wife, a woman named Victoria who was a secretary at the construction company Fred was now a supply manager for. He was back to work, and much happier overall it seemed. Victoria was considerably younger than Fred was, but she also seemed to put up with Olivia well. She was pregnant, and she and Libra spent a lot of time talking about babies and kids, while Victoria cooed over ours. Frankly, that conversation seemed more interesting than talking about football and beer with Frank, but let's not let bad puns get in the way of social niceties.

Olivia, for her part, seemed to be doing alright. She shook Harry's hand somewhat awkwardly, but did manage to ask him how Hawaii was and listen for a good two minutes. Then, it was all Football, all the time. Harry was willing enough to listen, and Sarah was her normal annoying sibling self constantly butting in and trying to get Olivia's attention (without success, as Sarah knew nothing about soccer, football, baseball, or any sport that wasn't played on a broom and thank Christ she didn't start trying to talk quidditch).

From talking with Fred and Olivia's comments, it seemed she was doing fairly well in school. She was in a youth football club, and had managed to make a few friends there. It helped that she was a decent athlete, mostly because she was obsessive about running drills constantly. Academically she seemed to be doing alright. She still struggled with reading anything that wasn't a sports magazine, but she had earned a few awards in mathematics. She didn't have nearly as many meltdowns, though Frank was exasperated that she'd been suspended once this year for fighting with another student.

Overall, it was good to see a kid I'd worked with so long ago doing more or less alright. At the end, I was shocked when Olivia came up to me and gave me a quick hug. "Thanks Mr. M. You were my favorite teacher. No one else ever gave me a Birmingham Jersey."

I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit. Maybe a lot a bit. True, as a teacher, being remembered because you gave a kid a way-too-large sports jersey as a bribe was probably not the most ideal way to be remembered. But it was good to know that at least in some small way, I'd made a difference in Olivia's life.

"We'll have to get together again sometime," I told Frank. "Catherine and I had lunch the other day, and it was good to see her. We're moving to to Scotland though. Got a job teaching at a boarding school."

"Oh? Whereabouts in Scotland?" Frank asked.

"Dufftown," I answered. "It's pretty far up north."

"Aye, I suppose so. Well, you'll want to be coming south when that cold wind blows eh? Give us a ring sometime," Frank told us.

Jesus don't remind me. My kids were already complaining that it was cold, and it was late spring. Hawaii does not prepare you for Scottish winters. I was going to freeze to death come November.

Aurora did say yes to Sirius, much to his and Sissy's delight. When Aurora found out it had been the elf who goaded Sirius into action, she had laughed and given Sissy an old hairpin of hers. It was a cheap glass and brass thing, but the elf had fussed and insisted it was much too fancy for her. However, she also kept the thing pinned to her towel constantly, and I saw her adjusting it more than once.

The day came when Hogwarts term finally ended, and it was time to depart Grimmauld Place. Despite the name, it had actually been rather cozy. The next morning, we all piled into the car. I examined our tickets as Libra drove. Platform 9 ¾, Kings Cross to Hogsmeade station.

"We're really doing it," I whispered. "We're actually going to ride the Hogwarts Express."


	28. Chapter 28

Kings Cross station is one of those things you simply don't see out West in the states. Maybe Grand Central station and stuff like that back East compares, but I was a bit awed by the ancient stone structure. We also didn't have much in the way of trains where I grew up, with even AMTRAK being mostly a joke. The kids had never been on a train, except for maybe Harry, who didn't remember it if he had. Over all, we were pretty pumped to get on the train. Sirius led Sarah and Marie forward, taking their hands and leading him through the invisible barrier with Harry half a step behind them.

"Oh crap," I said, coming to a halt.

"What?" Libra asked as she was about to take James through the portal.

"I'm willing to bet I'm about to look extremely silly," I said. I swallowed, closed my eyes, and stepped forward briskly.

THUNK. I reeled back, clutching my forehead. "Ow."

"Oh," Libra said, frowning and peering at the portal. "I suppose it wouldn't work for you."

"Yeah, have Sirius come back out. I'll have to go around or something."

"What do you mean, you can't go through the portal?" Sirius asked a moment later. He stuck his hand through solid rock. "It's just here, look. See? Just close your eyes and walk forward."

"I mean I literally cannot go through it," I said, thumping my hand against what to me was just solid stone. "Is there a way around it?"

Sirius frowned, then stepped back through. A moment later he reappeared. "No, it's working fine. You can just go through."

"No, I can't," I said in an exasperated tone. "We'll have to go around. Come on, quickly before anyone notices you're phasing in and out of reality."

"Huh." Sirius scratched at his chin, which was baby smooth. He'd been shaving since proposing to Aurora. Apparently, she didn't appreciate a big bushy beard the way Libra did. "Well, come on, I might know a way."

Sirius led me through the station to a small service door, which lead out into the train yard. He had to charm open a few locks, but he'd conjured up a uniform and a clipboard and looked pretty official, so no one bothered us.

"Muggles will let you do anything with one of these," Sirius said, holding up the clipboard and winking at me. "Bloody marvelous."

"It's called a Bavarian Fire Drill. And don't tell me you couldn't get practically anywhere in the Ministry of Magic by having some parchment and walking fast."

"No, no you can. I should know, I've done it more than once," Sirius said happily.

"Now, I'll have to help you through here, it's got an illusionary wall and some muggle repelling charms that-"

I walked through what looked to me like empty air between a freight loading dock and where an old red steam locomotive was waiting.

"Nope, I'm good, thanks," I said as I hurried towards the train platform.

"Bloody hell, you can't get through a magical barrier specifically designed to let in muggles but you can waltz right through some of the best wards and illusions?" Sirius demanded, hurrying to catch up. "Just what kind of squib are you?"

"Tell you what, you come on the train with us, I'll tell you the whole thing. With my wife's permission. She was a bit cheezed when I spilled the beans to Remus."

"I still don't see why we just don't floo or aparate. Even a bloody broom ride would be faster," Sirius groused.

"Because one, I can't floo or aparate, and two, I hate brooms," I answered. "Plus, they look pretty uncomfortable. And three, because it's been a lifelong dream of my wife's to take the Hogwarts Express. And mine, for that matter."

"You can't floo or aparate?" Sirius asked. "What is wrong with you?"

"Lots of things. Go talk with Harry, I'm going to speak with Libra."

Libra was standing on the platform holding James' hand, looking wistful as she gazed at the train. It was all old wooden passenger cars pulled by an ancient looking crimson locomotive. "Hogwarts Express" was in large golden letters.

"Hey, I made it," I said, standing next to Libra and picking up James when he held us hands up and demanded up.

Libra smiled at me and put her arm around my waist. "I can't believe we're actually doing this. I've dreamed of this moment for ages. Yet somehow, now that it's here, I'm actually more excited for the children. Harry's going to Hogwarts. He'll get a wand, play quidditch, make friends, become a real wizard."

"Just so long as he goes with conjuration instead of evocation. Friends don't let friends specialize in evocation," I deadpanned.

Libra rolled her eyes. "I never should have let you talk me into playing with you. I actually understood most of what you said there."

"Oh come on, you loved Misty the Half Elven Sorcerer. We had a lot of fun with Sato and Jane and Harry playing together."

"I still liked the evocation spells the best. Fireballing kobolds was just so satisfying," Libra said with a sigh.

"Speaking of wizards, I think maybe we should clue Sirius into the whole situation. He seems to have grown up a lot, and he's going to be an important help to Harry later on," I said.

"Hmmm. I don't know. He still seems somewhat reckless and immature," Libra said.

I set James down so he could run off to where Harry and the other kids were running along the platform. Sirius was with them, but watching Libra and I with an odd expression.

"He's figuring out something is odd about me. Plus, he might be a dummy, but he's a dummy that's fiercely loyal and protective of our son. Him knowing more just means he can do that better. He takes the whole godfather business rather Siriusly."

"You do that on purpose," Libra said, letting go of me and poking at my ribs. "But I suppose you're right." She kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you for discussing it with me first."

"My secrets aren't just mine anymore," I said, grabbing Libra around the waist and kissing her more deeply. She folded herself into me, and we shared a moment on the train platform. "We're in it to win it. Together."

"So did you buy a ticket or not?" I asked Sirius as Libra and I walked over to him.

He sheepishly held up a ticket he'd had in his jacket pocket. "I had one the entire time. I wasn't going to miss Harry's first ride on the Hogwarts Express, even if he's not starting school just yet."

We all boarded a few minutes later, along with a few other passengers who were headed to Hogsmeade.

"Most wizards take the train just for old times sake," Sirius told us. "It's a long, inconvenient way to get around compared to the other options. Though some are like you David. Molly Weasley is famous for hating Portkeys and Apparition, even though she's a capable enough witch to do it. She'd just floo though, not bother with a 10 hour train ride."

"I think we should have taken a broom," Sarah declared as she pressed her nose up against the glass in our compartment. "Harry could have flown me, he's very good. Mum, you should let him fly me next time."

"Talk to your father about that love," Libra said.

Sarah looked at me with a pleading expression, but I shook my head. "Neither of you is up to a flight that long. Once Harry is properly trained on how to use a broom at school, we'll see about him taking you for a few flights. But not until he passes the class."

"Oh I'm going to pass," Harry swore. "I'll be the best in my year! I'm going to play quidditch, just like Uncle Sirius and Uncle James did."

Sirius looked discomforted by the fact that Harry offhandedly referred to his birth father as "Uncle James" but he didn't complain. He'd come to accept the fact that Harry thought of me as his father, and didn't remember the man whose memory Sirius so treasured at all. I had tried to correct that fact once in awhile, but I knew virtually nothing about James Potter. Maybe more time with Sirius and Remus would allow Harry to have fonder memories of his birth parents, even if they were just shared ones.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" Sirius asked.

I looked at Harry. "You want to tell him The Secret?"

Harry nodded eagerly, and opened his mouth.

"Daddy's from the future!" Sarah said, bouncing up onto my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'm older than he is!"

Harry glared at Sarah, who giggled and hid behind by arm. "I was supposed to tell Uncle Sirius!"

"Sarah, what have I told you about telling people that?" I asked, pulling her from under my arm.

"But you said I could!" Sarah protested.

"No, I said Harry could. Apologize to your brother, and no broom rides for a week."

Sarah started crying, which always made me very uncomfortable and feel like a heel. However, I managed to hold firm. "Apologize, or no brooms for two weeks."

"Sorry Harry," Sarah said, wiping her eyes and sticking her lip out at me. Unfortunately for her, banning broom rides was something she couldn't guilt me out of. If I had my way, I'd ban her from those things until she was 11. Or older.

"Haha. Very funny. What's the secret?" Sirius demanded, folding his arms over his chest.

"Long, long ago, far in the future," Harry said, holding his hand out and moving his open palm in a wide arch. "My dad lived in a strange and terrible world. One where these was no magic, but computers were so powerful you could ask them anything and they'd tell it to you, but an orange cheeto was elected president."

I coughed. "Let's um, let's maybe not tell him that part. Even I don't believe it, and I lived through it."

"Right. Anyone, one day my dad took a trip from Hawaii where he was teaching, but somehow instead of flying back to the mainland, he flew...INTO THE PAST!"

Sirius was eyeing Harry incredulously, and looked at Libra and I with one eyebrow raised. "No, he's doing pretty good, I'll let him tell the story," I said.

"Momma I gots to shishi," Marie said, tugging at her mother's sleeve.

"I'll take her," Libra said. "James, you come too, I don't want you to have an accident. Sarah, why don't you try as well."

"I don't have to make shishi," Sarah protested, clinging to my shirt

I gently lifted her off. "Listen to your mother. You can tell Uncle Sirius a story when you get back."

"One day, my dad woke up in a hotel room in England but he was supposed to be in Arizona! However, with careful deduction, he realized that he wasn't just in the past, but that he had been sent back with a mission: to save the world and be my dad."

"He carefully infiltrated St. Gregory's school as a kindergarten teacher-"

"Year 1 Harry, they don't call it that here."

"Dad, let me tell the story! Anyway, he infiltrated St. Gregory's school as a teacher for little kids. And, that's when he met me. I thought I was just an orphan being tormented by my relatives because they were dumb and ugly and I was smart and handsome, but that wasn't true. Secretly, they were servants of Tom the Evil Wizard."

"Harry, I know for a fact that Petunia was a bitch, but that she would sooner tear out her own eyes than work for a wizard," Sirius said in an exasperated tone.

"Are you going to let me tell you the secret or not?" Harry demanded. "I don't get no respect."

Sirius held up his hands and leaned back. I covered my face with a hand to hide my smile. This was even better than the time I'd let Harry run his own DnD campaign.

"Anyway, dad knew that he had to defeat Tom's minions. He snuck into the Dursley's house, defeated my Aunt Petunia in a battle of wits that involved Iocane Powder and a rubix cube, then delved into the deep dungeon and rescued me by using his camera to collect evidence to present to the cops."

"But! The reason he knew where to find me and defeat Tom's minions was because he's a time traveler from the future, where accounts of my heroic exploits were recorded in the international best hit, Harry Murphy VS the Forces of Evil."

"They were called Harry Potter, which you know very well is your full name," I said.

"Right, but the point is, they were about me and how awesome I am. Or will be, or could be, or whatever. Basically, my dad loves me so much he traveled back back in time to saved me and married mum and then we lived in Hawaii and it was awesome. Oh, and he told Uncle Dumbledore about Peter the Rat and the basilisk and horcruxes and stuff."

Sirius turned to me, a look of pained acceptance on his face. "Alright, you got me. Nice prank. I had to admit, you really had me going there for a minute."

"No, it's all true," I said. "Well, the bit about me being from an alternate dimension in the future where someone wrote Harry Potter books. I'm pretty sure I never had to trick Aunt Petunia with Iocane Powder."

It took Libra coming back with the other kids and assuring Sirius that I was, in fact, from the future, before he started to take this even halfway seriously.

"Let me get this straight. You came back from some sort of future where there is no magic, but someone wrote books about Harry, and that you're the one who told Dumbledore where to find The Rat and how to get to the Supreme Danger Noodle."

"I cannot believe you're going to call it that," Libra groaned. "It's just so silly."

"Well probably because it's just as ridiculous as the rest of this insane story!" Sirius said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well, that's why I can't go through the barrier. I'm completely immune to magic," I explained. "Though mostly it just sucks. You could still transfigure a sword and cut me up or hit me with a fireball. I'm not immune to that sort of thing."

Sirius just blinked at me. "I'm really not sure how I'm supposed to take this. On the one hand, your story is so incredible I don't know if I could believe it. On the other, Harry seems to believe you, and you are a very odd person."

"Just ask Uncle Dumbledore," Sarah told Sirius, patting him gently on his knee. "He knows."

"Yeah, OK, that I can do. Now, who wants to learn how to play Exploding Snap?"

Libra and I both vetoed the Exploding Snap idea, agreeing that we definitely didn't want any fingers getting burnt off or destroyed. However, Sirius was soon regalling Harry and Sarah with more quidditch stories, which kept them all happy. Marie and James weren't interested though, and I walked them up and down the cars a few times between sessions of playing with their coloring books and small toys we had brought.

Turns out, going anywhere with small children is a whole lot less magical and much more hard work and annoying.

At long last, we arrived at Hogsmeade station. It was getting dark by this time, but we saw Lupin and Aurora waiting for us on the platform.

We stepped out, and Libra and I paused to look off into the distance, where Hogwarts castle could be seen silhouetted against the setting sun.

"There it is," I murmured, and Libra nodded, holding James up so he could see. I picked up Marie as well, though neither of the kids were all that excited. Sarah and Harry on the other hand, were jumping up and down in anticipation.

"Uncle Lupin is that really Hogwarts?" Harry demanded.

Lupin and Sirius were having a frantic whispered conversation off to the side, but Aurora answered on behalf of her fiance.

"That's Hogwarts, Harry. The oldest wizarding school in the world."

"Awesome. Does it have an airship dock like Ka Hale o ka Mana?" Harry asked.

"No, the airship docks are near Bristol and Edinburgh," Aurora said. "Hogwarts just has the train station."

"In Hawaii they have an airship dock," Sarah said loudly. "Daddy gets sick whenever he goes to the top but Harry and me like to watch them."

Just as we were getting ready to turn to go, Sirius ran over and grabbed me by the arm, dragging me off over to the side.

"First of all, thank you," he said. "Second of all, what the hell? You know how I died?"

"I know how a potential alternative version of you may have died," I answered. "I have no idea how you'll die now, though you did manage to avoid Aurora or Sissy poisoning you for dragging your feet. However, if Bellatrix ever does break out of Azkaban, I suggest you stay away from the Veil of Death. Or do it anyway. Veil of Death isn't a name that invites a ton of confidence in its safety."

Sirius looked me directly in the eyes, his arm still gripping mine. Suddenly, he enveloped me in a hug. "Thank you," he whispered. "For saving Harry. For saving me. For helping Remus."

I slowly reached my arms up and gently patted Sirius on the back. While I was pretty comfortable with physical intimacy with my wife and children, other adults was still sort of weird. "You're welcome. I'd do anything for Harry, and for those who care about him."

"On that, we will always agree," Sirius said, then we seperated. He gripped my arms, a wild grin on his face. "But this is fantastic! You can tell me who wins the World Cup!"

"First of all, no I can't. I am and was a muggle. I have no idea about Quidditch. Also, I don't really care about soccer, football, or any other sport. Even baseball. Secondly, you're rich enough already."

"Damn, got me there," Sirius admitted. "Though I'm going to be substantially less so after this wedding if Aurora has her way."

"Eh, being rich never made anyone happy anyway," I said, slapping Sirius on the back and heading back towards my family.

Hogsmeade, even at night, was sort of like walking onto a movie set. Or maybe Oz, I'm not sure. It was the sort of perfect, idyllic little village with people in ancient clothes (or what I thought of as ancient anyway), old timey shops and decorations, and a clean, wholesome atmosphere. The house we had purchased with Dumbledore's help (unfortunately with Harry's money, but Libra and I had quietly agreed it was an excellent use of it in providing him a safe and comfortable home) was nestled in amongst the others, looking like something off a Christmas card.

It was an old style house made of wood and plaster with a tiled roof. It had a wicker gate and a stone fence around it with a small garden, the center of which was a small stone fountain with a dancing cherub on top.

No, really. The stone cherub was always dancing and winking. I swear to God, one time I found the little jerk peeing into the fountain. Don't ask me how that worked.

The house was two stories, and very spacious. There were three bedrooms and a study, and we split it into the boys and girls room. Sirius and Remus had gotten some basic furniture set up already for us, and unpacked the boxes and such we'd sent along ahead of time. It was already nice and homey, and we had a delicious late dinner provided by Sissy, who popped in and served everyone.

After dinner we explored a little more, taking a walk around the village. Harry, as he had since we arrived in Britain, had a ball cap on. This one had 808 on it, which drew some odd looks from the villagers. However, most of them obviously recognized Sirius, Remus, and Aurora, so we were accepted easily enough. Some people stopped to introduce themselves, and were excited to hear I was going to be a professor at Hogwarts.

"Oh, my Jane's taking Muggle Studies. Said it was dreadfully boring last year, but I'm sure you'll do fine."

"An American, eh? Still got trouble with those Scourers?"

"Oh, we took a holiday in Hawaii what was it, five years ago? Lovely place."

"Libra? Is that you? It's me, Holly Goyle! Well, I'm Holly Diggle now."

This last was said by a witch in a blue robe with a young girl a year or two older than Harry with her.

Libra, upon recognizing the witch, paled slightly. "Oh, Holly, its-"

"We thought you died! Got murdered by your own father! That's what your mother always told everyone. Why, I saw your brother just last week you know. Walden will be-"

I stepped between Libra (who was starting to breath very quickly) and Holly. "Hi. I'm David. Libra's husband."

"Oh, an American are you? You must be that new muggle studies professor. Well, I guess marrying a squib you'd know all about-"

"You are being very rude. If you see Walden, please tell him we can have a chat, anywhere, any time. But if he comes within a mile of my family, I'll fucking bury him. Good evening."

Holly stood gapping at me, but I took Libra by the arm and led her away. "It was going to happen some time or other," I told her quietly. "Don't worry. The house is well protected. Remus vouched for it himself. He's not going to try anything."

"You don't know my brother," Libra said, sounding dazed. "My God David. Holly and I used to play together as girls. We thought we'd be in Slytherin together at Hogwarts."

"Well, it's good to know she lives up to the Slytherin stereotype of being a complete bitch."

Libra half sobbed, half laughed at that, but we went straight back to the house.

"Mum, is your brother really that bad?" Harry asked once the younger kids (including, with much protest, Sarah) were put to bed.

"Worse. I told you he murdered a house elf once. He was a marked Death Eater too. How he escaped Azkaban I don't know, but he bragged that he killed a muggle family to get it."

"Oh." Harry seemed to consider this. "Do I have to call him Uncle?"

"You call him whatever curse comes to mind first, then run and get help if you ever see him," I ordered.

Sirius sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately, you're not far wrong. He's basically the Department for the Regulation of Magical Creatures' attack dog. And I'm saying that as an actual attack dog. He's wicked, vile, and enjoys killing sentient beings far too much."

"Mistress...you is related to...that man?" Sissy asked quietly. She'd been in the kitchen, washing dishes, but had overheard the conversation and snuck back in.

"Not by choice," Libra said, reaching out and patting Sissy on the head. "I don't approve of who he is or what he's done at all. And while I don't necessarily desire him dead as strongly as my husband does, if he vanished into a black pit I wouldn't be overly upset."

"Good. That man is terrible! He is killing Sissy's grandmother when she accidentally spilled hot tea on her mistress. Said she was dangerous, trying to hurt wizards. Sissy's grandmother would never be doing that! She is just being old, and tired. She was a good elf, not a bad one."

"Speaking of bad elves, guess who agreed to sell me Dobby in exchange for Kreature's contract and 700 galleons?" Sirius said happily. "Crotchety old bastard was actually happy that he was going to serve the Malfoys, can you believe it?"

"What do you think of Kreature, Sissy?" I asked the house elf.

Sissy wilted a little bit. "Kreature is...Kreature is kind to Sissy."

"He tried to kill you!" Sirius said incredulously. "When he found out you helped me get rid of my mother's portrait, he tried to murder you in your sleep! I had to order him to never try and harm you and stay at Hogwarts unless I told him otherwise!"

"Kreature left Sissy lots of work, and doesn't complain he can't be serving the House of Black," Sissy said. "Why master would want Dobby instead of Kreature, Sissy doesn't know, but she is sure Mistress Aurora knows best."

Aurora burst out laughing at that, and Sirius groaned. "Great. Even my house elf thinks I'm an idiot."

"Sissy didn't say that at all! Sissy is just very happy Master was listening to her, for his own good."

After a while, it was time for everyone to leave, and for Harry to go to bed. Libra and I stayed up though, sitting in our new living room, staring into the fire (look, we thought it was cold). I put my arm around her, and resisted the urge to say anything. Libra put her hand over my own, and we sat in silence for a good 20 minutes, the fire crackling and burning down in the brick hearth.

"Thank you," Libra said at last. "For standing with me."

"Any time. You did the same for me."

"And I'll do it again. I can't do this alone, but then again, I don't have to."

Sometimes, you forget that we weren't meant to face life's struggles alone.


	29. Chapter 29

The next morning came bright and early. Actually, it came a lot brighter and a lot earlier than I was used to. In Hawaii, the sun rises and sets around the same time all year, with only two and half hours difference between the longest and shortest days of the year. In Scotland, this was not the case. We'd gotten in late, around 7:30pm. The sun (and thus, the children) rose at like 4:45am in the morning.

This was, actually, probably a good thing. Libra and I both had meetings at Hogwarts to meet the staff and get ready for our new duties, and we had a new member of our household.

"Daddy daddy daddy daddy!" Marie shouted, jumping onto my bed and shaking me hard. Little girls, for some reason, seem incapable of saying your name just once.

"What is it sweetie?" I groaned, sitting up and cracking open one eye.

"An elf in the kitchen and he weird and I tell him make breakfast and he say yes so I say I like pancake and he said he make some pancake so now we have pancake for breakfast!"

"What?" I said, jumping out of bed. Thankfully, I was wearing some sweat pants as I'd been cold. I dashed down the stairs to the kitchen, where an elf dressed in a filthy towel was spooning batter onto a griddle on our wood stove.

"Good morning master sir," the elf said, bobbing his head and bowing so that his long nose got stuck in the pancake batter. There is no way that is sanitary. "I's is Dobby, yous new elf sent by Master Sirius. Dobby is a good elf, very good sir, he is happy to be serving the Great Harry Potter and his family."

I squinted at Dobby, still trying to figure things out in my mind. "And...and how do I know you're Dobby?" I finally managed. It wasn't like he resembled the CGI puppet in the movies or anything.

Dobby produced a letter from within his towel, and handed it to me, cringing slightly. I opened the letter and started reading as Libra came down the stairs behind me, carrying Marie who was still going on about eating pancakes. She liked pancakes, especially with bananas.

"Dear Murphy Family, Cousin Sissy sent over Dobby last night. I've included his contract for you. I gifted him to Harry and the house of Potter and their caretakers. He seems pleased to have the chance to serve Harry and a nice young family. Don't know why Sissy didn't like him, she's probably just rubbish to her elves. Signed, Padfoot."

"Well, that seems authentic enough," Libra said. "What are you going to do with him?"

"Dobby is a good elf, will serve Master and Mistress very nicely," Dobby said, wiping the pancake batter off the tip of his nose only to bow and stick it in the bowl again. "Dobby will show you, no need to punish Dobby."

"Yeah…" I said, squinting at the elf. "Huh. Harry!"

Nothing. I walked over the stairs and shouted up them. "Harry, breakfast, get up!"

There was a loud thump, and then some pattering feet on the roof. Then another set of thumps in the garden. Harry and Sarah burst into the house, fully dressed, red in the face, and guilty as sin.

"Yeah dad?" Harry said, panting slightly. Sarah had a manic glint in her eyes, so I had a pretty good idea of what they had been up to.

"Bring me the broom," I ordered.

"What broom?" Sarah asked, giving me her very best innocent look (don't let it fool you, she's usually guilty as charged).

Harry groaned and stomped out to the garden, bringing back the broom Sirius had given him for his 9th birthday. I took it stashed it in the corner. "You know the rules. No unsupervised flying."

"But daaaad! We're in a magic village! There's other kids out there right now flying their brooms!" Harry protested.

"Uh huh. And I bet their parents have rules about when they can fly too. No flying for a week. Now both of you wash your hands and go take over from Dobby. I need to talk with him."

Harry groaned and Sarah fake cried a little, but one look from Libra and they were both hopping to it. Dobby looked surprised when Harry took the bowl of batter from him and Sarah started setting the table, but he followed Libra and I upstairs to our bedroom.

"Right, so, first question, are you still working for the Malfoys?" I demanded.

Dobby looked slightly panicked, but quickly shook his head. "No master! Dobby is not working for them at all now! They was selling Dobby to Master Black and Master Black is giving Dobby to you. Dobby is ever so grateful, the Malfoys was not liking Dobby. But you will! Dobby is a good elf, Dobby will work hard and make master very happy, you will see."

"Right." I looked to Libra, who shrugged.

"Dobby, have you ever seen the Diary of Tom Riddle?" Libra asked.

"Dobby is not knowing this Master Riddle. Was he a friend of master Malfoys? Dobby cannot be telling old masters secrets, that is part of what is binding Dobby and his magic to master."

I held up the contract printed on parchment that Sirius had sent. "You mean this?"

Dobby nodded. "Yes, that is being Dobby's contract. He is serving Master Harry Potter and Harry Potter's family until Dobby is dying or Master is selling him."

"Cool. Hold on a second." I stuck my head out the door. "Harry go grab an old t-shirt and come to my room."

Harry trooped up holding the t-shirt a moment later, looking confused. "What, are you going to give me lickings with a t-shirt? I won't take Sarah flying without you again, I promise."

"No, you own Dobby now. You really want to do that?"

Harry wrinkled his nose. "No, that's wrong."

Dobby looked slightly panic stricken. "Oh please, don't be sending Dobby back! Dobby is a good elf! Dobby will iron his hands if Master Harry Potter is not liking him, he is a good elf, truly Dobby is, Dobby doesn't want to go back, Malfoys is not liking Dobby, this is making him do all sorts of things because he was a bad elf and-"

"Hey, will you shut up and let me go make breakfast before Marie starts crying for pancakes if I give you this?" Harry asked, holding up the t-shirt. "That's how this works, right?"

Dobby, for his part, was dumbstruck. After swallowing a few times (which made his comically oversized adam's apple bob up and down like he was a cartoon character), Dobby managed, "Harry Potter...Master Harry Potter is knowing if he gives Dobby clothes, Dobby is a free elf?"

"Yep." Harry tossed the t-shirt to Dobby. "Talk to my dad, he wants you to start some sort of elvish liberation movement or something. I'm going to make breakfast. Oh, James is up, I took him potty before we went flying and now he's playing in our room with my action figures. It's OK, he can have them I can't take them to school." With that, Harry turned around and went back down stairs.

Dobby, for his part, starting crying, wiping his eyes and nose with the t-shirt, which was an old one with "We Go Beach" on it.

"Well now you've done it," Libra sighed. "And I would have so liked to have a house elf. But you managed to find the one elf in the entire world who doesn't find happiness in slavery."

"Dobby is a slave no more!" Dobby declared, standing up proudly. "Dobby is a free elf! He can choose his own Master! And other elves is wanting freedom too! They is just not realizing it yet."

"That's actually what I was wondering about," I said. "Also, can I hire you? We sort of need a nanny since the both of us are going to be working now."

"Harry Potter's father is wanting to hire Dobby to serve Harry Potter's family?" Dobby said breathlessly. "Oh yes, oh yes! Dobby is happy to work for Harry Potter's family!"

"So how much do you want, elf?" Libra asked, giving me an annoyed look.

Dobby thought about this for a moment. "One galleon a month, and one day off every year."

"Sold," Libra said instantly.

"Dobby...Dobby isn't asking too much?" Dobby asked, looking nervous.

"Dobby, a good Nanny would cost me something like 50 galleons a week for part time work," I said. "Plus, most people want two days off a week, at least, plus vacation time which they want to be paid for."

"That is too much!" Dobby gasped, horrified. "Dobby couldn't be charging so much for the privilege working for the great Harry Potter and his family!"

"We already said we'd hire you for a galleon a month and one day off a year," Libra said. "No need to bargain. And you can of course feed yourself from the icebox and sleep in the house, as a regular house elf does. Though you can wear whatever you want I suppose, so long as you buy it with your own money."

"He can probably fit into some of the kids old stuff as they outgrow it," I observed.

Libra shrugged. "Either way, I'm not buying a house elf clothes. It's unnatural."

"Dobby will buy all his own clothes mistress," the elf promised.

"Oh, another thing. Don't call us master or mistress or whatever. Boss works. Or maybe just Mr. or Mrs. Murphy. The kids just call them their names, they don't need to put on airs."

"Dobby would never be so disrespectful," the elf declared.

"Fantastic. Well, here's a galleon," I said, pulling out my pants from the day before and extracting a gold coin. I handed it over to the elf. "You get paid on the first of every month. If you do good work, we can negotiate a raise during your quarterly review."

"Dobby is getting quarterly reviews!" the elf said, clutching the galleon and hugging it like it was his baby or something. "Oh happy day!"

"Yeah we're gonna figure all this out later. For now, we're putting you in charge of minding the kids while we're at work. No flying. No matter what Sarah tells you, she's not allowed on a broom."

"Marie cannot have any sweets, except for pudding at meal times," Libra instructed. "She can have as many fruits and vegetables as she wants, and she'll want a lot. James sometimes needs reminders to use the toilet, especially if he's playing outside. The children are not to leave the garden for today, when we come home we'll see about taking them around to make friends."

"Harry's grounded from his broom for a week," I told Dobby. "He can help you with meals and stuff. He also knows how to calm down all the other kids. Oh, and keep it on the downlow that he's Harry Potter. That's sort of a secret for now."

"Yes master sir, of course," Dobby said, nodding frantically.

"What did I say about the master stuff? You can call me boss man or something."

"Yes Master Boss Man," Dobby agreed.

"Oy vey," I groaned. Then I glanced at the clock on the mantle. "We'd better eat and head on up, it's a mile or so to the castle."

"Well I suppose that wasn't a complete disaster," Libra observed as we headed down stairs. "One galleon a month, and one day off a year? If that keeps him happy it will be well worth it."

"Come on, you know house elf slavery is wrong. We can end this, do something good," I said as we sat down at the table with the kids, who were already eating pancakes. Harry had gotten James dressed, but he'd let him bring a stormtrooper to the table. I took it and frowned at him, and James looked a bit guilty as he ate his pancake, which Dobby had cut up into squares for him.

"I just think we should focus on stopping Tom and keeping our children safe first," Libra said.

"Who says this isn't a part of that? Dobby saved Harry from being tortured by the Malfoys, remember?"

There was a crash, and we all turned to look at Dobby, who was staring at Libra and me amidst a sea of spilled orange juice and glass. He snapped his fingers, and the pitcher flew back together as the juice jumped down the drain. Magic. It's freaking weird.

"Dobby is very sorry master, Dobby is a good elf, please don't worry, Dobby will-"

"It's fine, we'll explain later," I told Dobby. "Well, maybe. Libra and I will discuss how much you need to know. Forget what I said for now, OK?"

"Yes Master Boss Man Sir," Dobby babbled, hurrying to get something else for us to drink.

"Wow dad, how many titles do you need?" Harry teased.

"Let's just hope we can cure him of that habit before he starts referring to me as the Big Cheese or something," I muttered.

Libra and I had to be at the castle by 8:00, so we left at around seven. Dobby assured us that he would take good care of everything, and Harry promised that he would make sure no one died. I wasn't sure who I trusted more, but I figured an elf that had saved Harry's life at the cost of his own couldn't be all bad.

"You've really got to watch what you say more often," Libra told me once we were past the village. We'd waved to a few people who had smiled and waved back. We were dressed in regular clothes, but it seemed not everyone wore robes around the clock, and we'd passed villagers in dresses and pants going about their daily lives, though some had worn robes and all the clothes looked about 50+ years out of date.

"Yeah, sorry. Still, you know what I told you in the notebook. Dobby died so that Harry could be saved from torture at the hands of the Malfoys. He's a valuable ally."

"I suppose. But he's a house elf. They're just sworn to serve their masters, even at the cost of their own lives."

"He was a free elf. He chose to go save Harry. Harry's bound house elf, Kreachur, betrayed him. It was the one Harry treated as an equal that saved his life, not the one he used as a slave."

Libra grunted, and I decided that was enough about that. "But hey, we're actually going to Hogwarts! You and me, on a magical adventure together, going to a mythical school."

"I've already been to one mythical school with you, David Murphy. And if you think you're going to get me into one of Hogwarts' broom closets, you should know I'm wearing what I wore for your last birthday."

Which is to say, not the sort of undies one shows of in front of your children.

"I'll make sure to keep an eye out for any and all available broom closets," I promised, and Libra giggled.

Hogwarts was a lot larger than I thought it would be. I mean, I've seen castles before so I know they're not exactly tiny, but this was closer to a sprawling college campus than a neat little fortress. In fact, calling it a castle seemed sort of wrong. It was closer to a fortified manor than anything else really. There were glass windows all up and down the place, some at ground level. There were hints of the original fortress in the crenellations and some of the older towers were clearly meant as military defenses, but the original building had been expanded on and built upon until it was hardly what one would call a military stronghold.

There were several large wings, and a dozen or so towers that jutted up from the foundations. However, the original wall had been built over in several places and knocked down in others for easier access to the courtyards, gardens, and outbuildings. The main gates were actually gone, the portcullis completely removed in favor of several decorative carvings and statues. The doors to the main hall were impressive, but while they looked fortified they also didn't look like they could stop a serious assault. But, then again, I guess the main defenses wouldn't be stone and mortar, but magical, so I probably was way off base.

As we approached, a booming voice called out to us.

"Oi, you lot the new professors we been waitin' fer?"

Libra and I turned to see the most massive being I have ever seen striding towards us. He was covered in shaggy black hair that was going grey, and stood at least 10 feet tall.

"I...yes?" I managed, gazing up, and up, and up at the massive man.

"You must be Rubeus Hagrid," Libra said, stepping forward and extending her hand. "I'm Libra Murphy nee Macnair. This is my husband, David Murphy."

"Good ter meetcha at las'" Hagrid said, his hand swallowing Libra's like she was a newborn. He pumped it enthusiastically, then stepped forward towards me. "I was so glad ter hear that lil' Harry was havin' a family that was lookin' after him proper like."

Hagrid's grip was not crushing, as you might expect. It was a delicate, gentle touch, like Hagrid was handing fine porcelain or a bird's wing. It was certainly not a dead fish sort of thing, but you could tell he was taking care not to crush your bones to dust or bruise you, which he likely could have done. The man looked like a wookie, and was probably stronger than one.

"Thank you," I said, trying to shake off my awe at the man. He was just so...big. And full of life and energy. His warm dark eyes sparkled, and his grin was huge and toothy, as if he couldn't imagine something more enjoyable than making my acquaintance. "And thank you for taking care of him so well. When he was a baby, that is. He still dreams about you and that motorcycle ride sometimes."

This was true, Harry had talked about the motorcycle dream a few times, and I'd told him about his ride with Hagrid, which probably reinforced the concept.

Hagrid blushed like a schoolgirl, dropping his eyes and shuffling his feet awkwardly. Which made the earth tremble, since instead of a tiny schoolgirl he was bigger than freaking Goliath.

"Aw, that's awful kind o' yeh ter say, Professor Murphy. I was hopin' yeh'd bring Harry up with yeh. Got some baby bowtruckles I could show him, yeh know."

"I'll be sure to tell him. He's got two little sisters and a baby brother you know, I'd bet they'd like to see what you have as well. Just, er, nothing rated above a double X by the ministry, OK? They're pretty little."

"Oh! No, I wouldn't be showin' kids nothin' too dangerous now. Got ter save the interestin' stuff for when they're a bit older, right? Well, come on then, the meetin's startin' soon. But I do like the little ones. Most folks, they think me an' the critters is dangerous or somethin' an' don't want me around their kids. I'm right surprised you is so willin' to send them off to me so soon after meetin' me and all,Professor Murphy."

"Anyone who takes good care of our son and has the highest praise of Remus has our trust," Libra said. "Please, lead the way."

Hagrid beamed, and happily led the way up to the Great Hall, practically skipping as he did so. Which let me tell you, looked really odd. I mean, the man looked like he could bench press the entire WWE roster, and here he was skipping along because we'd paid him a compliment and said he could show our kids some cool animals. I mean, how could anyone not love the guy?

Inside, there were teams of house elves scrubbing the entryway floors and walls. They parted way for us, though I recognized one. "Hey Nipsey," I said, waving to the elf as he paused in dusting a painting. Which was moving. It should have been disturbing, but again it mostly reminded me of a gif or something. "Long time no see. How's life been?"

Nispy dropped his brush and clutched his chest. "Master Murphy is remembering old Nipsy? Oh happy day!"

"Yep, I'm good, glad to hear you're the same. Harry'll be around before too long, make sure you say hi, he misses you sometimes," I said, waving we left.

The other house elves gasped and crowded around Nipsy, who began regailing them with some overly embellished tale or another.

"Well, that was righ' nice o' yeh," Hagrid observed as we left the entry way. "Little bugger looked pleased as punch he did."

"My husband is something of an elvish rights advocate," Libra said in a rather dry tone.

Hagrid beamed and slapped me on the back, rather gently for him I assume as I didn't go careening into the nearest wall. "Well that's good ter hear. Too many folks take advantage o' the poor creatures."

Inside the Great Hall itself, the tables were cleared away so that even more house elves could holystone the floors, and the candles were being restocked by the elves. However, the high table was still present, and around it sat some people who were all too familiar.

I recognized Remus, Dumbledore, and Aurora of course. And Snape, the jerk. McGonagall didn't look exactly like Dame Maggie Smith, but it was easy enough to pick out who the strict scottish school marm was with her spectacles and hair in a tight grey bun. Flitwick, interestingly enough, was an ugly little midget who probably was half goblin or something, though he had the look of someone who smiled more often than her frowned. The dumpy witch with rosy cheeks had to be Pomona Sprout, and she smiled and waved to us as we approached the table.

There was a kindly looking matron in an ancient nurse's outfit that had to be Poppy Pomfrey. Kettleburn had to be the old guy who had a nose that had the tip bitten off and more scars on his face than Remus did. The spacy looking hippy hunched over a tea cup was Trelawney. The mean looking old coot with the cat on his lap had to be Filch. The last one I knew was the lady in quidditch robes with close cropped hair that had to be Madam Hooch, the flying instructor and soon to be Harry's favorite teacher ever.

Interestingly, there were actually a good dozen or so people I straight up didn't recognize. Some of them looked to be support staff of various kinds, health aides and such, but others seemed to be professors of one type or another. I knew I wouldn't recognize the Arithmancy or Ancient Runes professors (I didn't even recall their names) but there were a lot of people that weren't in the books or movies.

There were four places at the table, one an enormous chair that could only have been for Hagrid. Everyone else was in the process of finishing breakfast, but as Libra and I approached with Hagrid they all turned and looked at us. Dumbledore smiled and waved.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. Welcome, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."


	30. Chapter 30

"Welcome, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The words seemed to echo around the cavernous Great Hall, and I felt myself going red in the face. Libra was flushed as well, her eyes wide with excitement as she grinned hugely. We were both holding hands, though we quickly separated.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Libra said, having managed to recover herself first. "We're pleased to be here."

"Please, join us. I believe introductions are in order," Dumbledore said.

In addition to the more famous Professors and Heads of House, there turned out to be assistant professors in each of the main subjects. There was Professor Herbert Greening, the Assistant Herbology professor, a tall, thin man in his early forties. Professor Bridgette Kraughterman, a dark haired woman about Libra's age with a pointed, narrow face and a severe expression, who taught potions. The large, jovial man in his fifties was Professor Gregory Wilcox, who was who taught charms. Professor Alexa Makepeace, a bright bubbly young thing who looked like she'd graduated the year before; she taught Defense with Remus. There was also Hestia Jones-she had blonde hair in a pony tale and dimples when she smiled that was taking over in transfiguration. There was another young witch, though just before we were introduced her hair went from nut brown to pink.

"Tonks?" I gasped, my eyes going wide. Libra for her part inhaled sharply and kicked me under the table.

"Yeah," the young witch said, her hair going stark white. "How'd you know that?"

"I, er, well, Sirius mentioned you were his cousin?" I managed.

"I'm surprised the bloody rube remembered me at all," Tonks said, smiling at me as her hair went back to brown. "Yeah, just signed on this year with you and Alexa. Was going to go into the Aurora Corps, but, well, we needed a new transfiguration professor and the Headmaster talked me into it, thanks to my unique qualifications."

Dumbledore looked at me thoughtfully, stroking his beard as Tonks talked. I tried not to break out in a nervous sweat, and mostly didn't succeed. "I didn't realize there were two professors for some of the positions," I said. "At Ka Hale o ka Mana there's just one in each."

Really it was just because the books had only ever mentioned one in each position. Where had these others come from?

"You will find Hogwarts has a few more students than most other wizarding schools, Mr. Murphy," McGonagall said. "We require two professorships in all of our core classes. There simply is not time in the day for us to manage to teach all of them, though we do trade off which years we are responsible for from time to time."

Maybe that was it. I was willing to bet that Dumbledore would have made sure Harry had the absolute best teachers in each area. Of course, Harry in the books was also famously unobservant (a problem my son shared at times) and there could have been a hundred other teachers who, if they hadn't taught him, Harry wouldn't have known existed.

Of course it was also entirely possible that half the books were a bunch of hooey anyway so what did I know.

"Now as you are all aware," McGonagall continued. "Mr. Murphy has been hired as our new muggle studies professor, and Mrs. Murphy will be our new Student Care Aide under Madam Pomfrey. What some of you may not know, is that they have been hired for a very specific reason. They are Harry Potter's parents."

This brought gasps and mutters of surprise from the other professors, who all eyed us with renewed interest.

"You may as well tell them the other thing too," I told McGonagall. "They're going to figure it out pretty quick."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at me, and Libra nodded her confirmation. "Some of you may recall me and my family. I remember you at least, Hestia. I am the daughter of Warchessurat and Lyra Macnair. My brother is Walden Macnair."

"That piece of-" Professor Kettleburn cut himself off and coughed into his hand.

"My relationship with my brother is somewhat...strained," Libra said, trying to smile but mostly just showing her teeth. "I am, as rumor would have it, a squib."

That announcement made Argus Filch's cat jump off his lap as he sat up straight, looking at Libra like she'd gone mad. Several of the other professors shifted uncomfortably, not meeting Libra's eyes. Those that did seemed to pity her.

Hagrid for his part patted her gently on the back and smiled. "Ah, that ain't so bad. Meself, I'm most of a squib, and ole Argus here is-" Hagrid cut himself off as Flich glared daggers at him.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I'm just a flat out muggle," I said, trying to draw attention from Libra. "Also; an American."

"You're a what?" Professor Vector said, looking astounded.

"More of a who really," I answered casually. "Though if you couldn't tell I'm an American by my accent, that's my wife's fault."

That got some chuckles from the audience, until Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Mr. Murphy has a number of recommendations that qualify him for the position. Not only has he received a degrees from muggle universities in a number of areas (technically true, I had my BA from ASU and my Masters from UH Hilo) but he has proven to be most skilled at educating magical youth when he was employed at Ka Hale o ka Mana in Hawaii, one of the Eleven Great Magical Schools of the world."

Also technically true if you really stretched the definition, though the professors there would back my story up.

"He has also been instrumental in writing a new Muggle Studies Curriculum that is in the process of adoption by the ICW, and has already been adopted by Hogwarts' own board of governors."

Again, true, as I would find out. Turned out Dumbledore and Akeakamai had submitted it. Akeakamai was the new Supreme Mugwump after Dumbledore's retirement and had quite a bit of pull.

"Mr. Murphy has proven to be by far the most qualified applicant to the position," McGonagall continued as Dumbledore sank back in his chair, apparently exhausted. "However, his status as Harry Potter's father must be taken into account. There are those in this country that would do the boy and his family harm. You all know of whom I speak."

"I can assure you that no one who thinks that way is on this staff, Minerva," Flitwick piped up. "We all remember the reign of terror under You-Know-Who, and are very grateful to Harry Potter for defeating that menace the first time. We can only hope he succeeds again."

I looked to Dumbledore, who sighed. "There have been rumors of a prophecy of Voldemort's return," he said softly. "And I have confirmed to the staff here that it is likely Harry will need face him again."

"Good." I looked around the table. "My wife and I both know what Harry is up against. We brought him here because we believe Hogwarts is the finest magical institution in the world, and that he will best learn how to defeat Tom once and for all here."

"Tom?" Wilcox asked.

"Er, That Old Menace," I said quickly. "It's a TLA. Easier to say than You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named all the time. Less hyphens. Plus, those come out to YKW and HWMNBN which just don't roll off the tongue at all."

Libra kicked me under the table again, but she had her hand over her mouth and I could tell she was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

"Should I ask what a TLA is?" Wilcox said, a look of amusement on his face.

"Why that's a Three Letter Acronym," Remus said casually. "The Americans are terribly fond of them."

"Regardless," McGonagall said, her tone firm. "With Harry back in England, we must needs be on our guard. Which is why I wish to introduce our last and newest staff member assigned by the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement, Senior Auror Al-"

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" a new voice roared from the corner. Everyone jumped about three feet in the air and came down startled, save for Dumbledore and McGonagall who seemed to have been expecting it.

I picked up a tea cup and threw it in the voice's general direction, already having a strong suspicion of who had been there. The tea cup shattered harmlessly on the wall, but I was already scooping up silverware to chuck when Dumbledore held up a hand to forestall me.

"Reveal yourself, Alastor. No need to continue the charade," Dumbledore ordered.

There was a swish of a cloak, and Mad Eye Moody himself was revealed in all his repugnant glory. I held my butter knife out menacingly, which didn't seem to be at all effective. Still, I assumed the crane stance I'd been taught my sensei Jim, and Libra was beside me brandishing a candle stick she'd snatched out of the air. In hindsight, she probably had the better weapon.

"You're all bloody dead," Moody growled, stomping forward on his peg leg. "The only two idiots who even managed to react appropriately are the damn muggle and squib who haven't even started yet! I could have taken out the lot of you if I'd been a Death Eater hiding there under the cloak. None of you even did a sweep to see if I was there!"

"Oh hell, it's him," someone muttered.

Moody spun toward the noise, glaring at Kettleburn. "It's me Silvanus. And you bloody well know better! This is why you've lost your arm and three toes! You're not practicing Constant Vigilance!"

Moody glared at Libra and I. "Sit down you two, you look like a pair of fools. The time for that was before you bloody well sat down! Never walk into a strange room and turn your back to the door without even checking for alternative exits and traps in all areas!"

Libra and I sheepishly sat, and to my discomfort Moody sat in the last empty chair, next to me. Well, at least he wasn't Snape.

"As I was saying," McGonagall continued, "Auror Moody will be working as our security expert, assigned by Director Shacklebolt on the orders of Minister Bones. They both agree that even the slightest chance that an attack could occur merits counter measures."

Well, that was a pleasant surprise, even if Moody was a troll. It looked like Dumbledore and everyone else was taking things seriously for once.

"Now, let us go over our test scores from the NEWTs and OWLs, along with our ranking by the ICW based upon comparisons with our 5th and 7th year students and those of equivalent ages at the other 10 schools. I am certain Professor Murphy can enlighten us when it comes to the results at Ka Hale o ka Mana."

Well, this was another shocker. Turned out Hogwarts had Data Teams and reviewed test scores like every other school in existence. This was, obviously, every teacher's favorite part of the job. Just kidding, we all hate it.

The results told me a lot about Hogwarts. Our transfiguration scores were 2nd best in seventh year, behind Uagadou where they were famed for requiring students to become animagi, and 3rd for fifth years, behind Uagadou again and the Kachina Sonora in Arizona, my home state. Go Sun Devils! Or whatever they were there.

Interestingly, in potions we were rank 1st for seventh years, but ranked 7th for fifth years. I guess Snape was really good at his job, but was much better at teaching older students. Charms we were fourth in both years, with Beauxbaton and Tiānshàng De Zhìhuì Zhī Wū (The House of Heavenly Wisdom, the chinese school) competing for top slots. Defense we were ranked middle of the pack at 6th for seventh and 5th for fifth, but considering that our oldest students had been around for when the Curse was active, that was pretty good for Lupin and Makepeace.

In Herbology it was no shock to find out Ka Hale o Ka Mana had that as their claim to fame, and I mentioned that menehune helped teach some classes with their unique insights, which caused Sprout and Greening to talk about how wonderful they were and how they wished they could have some over as guest lecturers but they'd never take the cold. Frankly, I agreed with the menehune: Scotland was too cold.

Alchemy we were first place in the world this year, though Dumbledore remarked that Beauxbaton competed with us as Nicolas Flamel occasionally would be inspired to teach a year or two there. I wondered if he'd die this year. Not that I really cared or anything, but I did hope Voldemort couldn't get his hands on the Stone.

Muggle studies we were down at the bottom in 10th and 9th, but McGonagall and Dumbledore seemed to believe I could bring our scores up. Fantastic. Nothing says awesome first year like knowing you need your students standardized scores to go up to keep your job. History of Magic was even worse though as we were solidly in last place in both years. Care of magical creatures was middle of the pack, as were arithmancy and astronomy.

Divination wasn't scored by OWLs or NEWTs, much to my amusement. I mean, how do you score prophecy?

Overall, it showed Hogwarts was an excellent place to get an all around education, and if one was especially interested in transfiguration or potions this was perhaps the best place in the whole world to learn them.

Well, with the glaring exception of my own department and Magical History. Maybe that was why muggles and muggle borns got a bum rap here. Hogwarts was terrible at teaching kids about them.

All in all, it turned out to be a long day of meetings and data reports. Sadly, this meant that none of the broom closets ever got a decent inspection.

After this, it turned out most professors were departing for the summer holidays. Since wizards weren't really restricted by geography when it came to commuting to work, most of the staff lived all around the country or were departing for elsewhere to take a vacation. Hestia Jones, Tonks, and Alexa Makepeace all lived in Hogsmeade together, sharing a house not far from our own.

However, Libra and I had to bid them farewell for now, as we stayed behind to talk with McGonagall and Dumbledore.

"Well Mr. Murphy, the Headmaster has told me you have something you wish to tell me?" McGonagall said once we'd traversed through the maze-like castle to Dumbledore's office.

"That depends. Do you believe some things are best kept secret, or that ignorance leads to folly?" Libra asked.

McGonagall pursed her lips, looking back and forth between the two of us. "I am not overly fond of riddles, Mrs. Murphy, nor do I wish for my Professors to keep secrets from me. While the Headmaster is still in charge, you will both be reporting to me as first year staff. As such, if you have any secrets that may impact your duties, it is best I know them now."

"Cool. Mind shooting me with a stunner or something real quick? That will make this easier," I said. "Anything that's just a straight up spell that only affects the mind or body."

McGonagall frowned. "That is...an odd request." She looked to Dumbledore, who sighed and nodded.

"This is best for you to see for yourself, Minerva."

McGonagall took out her wand and eyed me. I stood, stepping away from everyone else. "No fireballs or anything, I don't want to ruin my shirt."

"Very well. Titilando," McGonagall said. Purple hands shot out of her wand and rushed towards me, wiggling their fingers. They surrounded my torso, where they waggled about before disappearing shortly after sinking into my flesh.

"What on earth?" McGonagall muttered, stepping forward. "Mr. Murphy, do you have some sort of Merlin's Bane?"

"You know I seem to recall Snape talking about that when he tried something on me. But no, I don't. Frankly I don't think any potions would work on me either. Want to give it another go?" I offered. "Or will you take this as proof that I'm basically immune to magic?"

"Immune to magic?" McGonagall asked, raising one eyebrow. "What, are you going to tell me you're half dragon or some nonsense like that?"

"Well I'm hairy enough to be a bigfoot but I'm pretty sure there's no sasquatch in my veins," I said. "Wait, are those real? Are there really sapient hominids running around North American forests?"

"There are, but I assure you, if you were a half breed like that it would be a tad more obvious," McGonagall mused. She extended her wand again after a moment, and a pink fog shot out, enveloping my head.

I coughed, but it was more reflex than anything else. I couldn't even really tell I was breathing it.

"Fascinating," McGonagall said, waving her wand so that the fog vanished. "I assume you knew of this, Albus?"

"I did," Dumbledore confirmed. "It is one of Mr. Murphy's odder qualities."

"Hey, we're just getting started. Speaking of which, are Time Turners real? Because that would make this a lot easier to explain," I said.

"Time Turner?" McGonagall asked. "You mean those devices from the Boy Who Lived Series? I've had any number of students asking about them since those fool things were published eight years ago."

"I told you they weren't real," Libra told me. "I've never heard of anyone traveling in your 'stable time loop.'"

"So, time travel is theoretically impossible then?" I prodded.

Dumbledore answered. "As I have said before, there is no evidence of anyone else being temporally displaced Mr. Murphy. Though I admit, I rather enjoyed those books and their use of Time Turners, even if they were little more than a cheap plot device."

"Well chalk one more up for me having no clue about things," I sighed. "Hey, fun game time. How old do you think I am Headmistress?"

McGonagall frowned at me, but when she looked to Dumbledore he smiled at her and nodded.

"Well according to what I recall of your application you were born sometime in the late 50s, which would make you around 34, 33?"

"Nope. I'm three years old," I said proudly. "I have two children that are older than I am. Blame the cradle robber here."

McGonagall gave me an incredulous expression as Libra massaged her temples with one hand, a sure sign she was irritated with me. However, Dumbledore chuckled at this. "That is a unique way of putting things, Mr. Murphy. I confess, I had previously not thought about it in that way. It does seem rather odd."

"And you managed this feat how, Mr. Murphy?" McGonagall asked with a tone that indicated she had had just about enough of my nonsense.

"He somehow managed to travel back in time to 1986 from the year 2017," Libra said, looking up with a worn expression. "If you let him he'll dance around the subject all day because for some reason he finds it amusing."

"That's because I can either laugh, or cry about the death of everything I knew and loved," I said, coming over and putting my arm around Libra. "Even if I have found something better now."

McGonagall snorted as if this was the purest form of nonsense, but when she looked Dumbledore he nodded. "It was Mr. Murphy who informed me of the location of Peter Pettigrew, Minerva. He also was able to instruct me on how to break the Curse on the Defense position, as well as tell me how to locate the chamber of secrets and defeat the Supreme Danger Noodle within."

"Yes!" I said, jumping up and offering Dumbledore a high five. "I knew that would catch on!"

Dumbledore chuckled and slapped my open palm with a satisfying smack. "Sirius told me about it. I think he's been calling it that just to annoy Remus and Severus though."

"What? Sirius trying to annoy Snape? I just can't see that happening," I dead panned. "Those two get along almost as well as Snape and I do."

"They are, admittedly, far less hostile than they have been in years past," Dumbledore said. "Hopefully you have also managed to put aside your biases the man."

"Now hold on just a moment," McGonagall said. "Albus, this is ridiculous. Someone traveling 31 years into the past would be impossible by all the laws of magic I know. Additionally, this man is a self proclaimed muggle, even if he is a walking Merlin's Bane which I have never heard of before."

"It's true," I said. "It's how I know you told Dumbledore that the Dursley's were the worst sort of muggles after spending all day as a cat sitting on their garden wall. Though really, why you were reading a newspaper in a muggle neighborhood in your animagus form I don't know, because even muggles know cats can't read."

McGonagall blinked at me, confused. I wracked my brain a bit. "I er, also know that you fell in love with a muggle man when you were younger, but gave it up because you recalled how much it had affected your parents' relationship. Though I don't recall which was magical and which was muggle out of your parents, it has been like seven years since I read the books."

"Who told you this?" McGonagall asked in a hoarse whisper. "I have rarely spoken to anyone of Dougal. Or of the strife between my parents."

"He just knows these things," Libra said, shaking her head. "They were in some books he read in the future. Books about Harry."

"I will point out, however, that the usefulness of those books has been largely expended at this point," I said. "I can give some insights into how Tom tries to come back and what tactics he uses, but that's really about it now."

"Ah, but they were useful indeed," Dumbledore said quietly. "Minerva, this man not only knew the exact location of the Chamber of Secrets and how to open it, despite no one but Tom Riddle and Salazar Slytherin even knowing that it existed. He knew the nature of the Curse on the Defense position and how to rid ourselves of it without having ever held a wand himself. He was able to describe in detail how Tom Riddle attained immortality and became the feared man known as Voldemort. And he knew the wording of a prophecy overheard by only myself in full. There is no other explanation."

"Well, unless I'm actually a precog psychic who just reads everyone's minds and has visions," I offered. "Though I'm missing the lightsaber and telekinesis to go with it."

"David, not the time," Libra said gently, rubbing the back of my hand.

I swallowed. I was nervous, and babbling.

"This is quite the revelation," McGonagall said slowly. "I will wish to hear details, in full, Mr. Murphy. However, that can wait for another time I suppose. For now, it is enough for me that you seem to have exclusively used your knowledge to help others and not for your own personal profit."

Libra and I both coughed and looked away.

"Or perhaps you have. What have you done, Mr. Murphy?" McGonagall demanded.

"I kinda sorta maybe have been playing the stock market," I confessed. "We've made a few grand off it already, and things are looking even more up."

"We have incurred a great deal of expense keeping Harry safe," Libra said primly. "We are simply using David's knowledge to help ensure that he does not run short of funds to combat his foes."

McGonagall snorted, and Dumbledore chuckled.

"Mr. Murphy, if you have simply been using your ability to see the future to make some sort of bet in the muggle world I see nothing wrong with that. Seers have been trying that for ages. Sybil still insists she can tell you the numbers for the Million Lottery if you pay her a galleon, even if she has yet to predict a single accurate result."

"I still kick myself every once in a while I didn't memorize a bunch of Powerball numbers," I said wistfully. "But I never exactly thought I'd end up back in time. All I can really do is remember grand market trends and a few companies that were really successful."

"Well when I next go to invest my retirement fund I shall consult with you then," McGonagall said dryly. "But for now I will accept the Headmaster's word that you have been a model parent and a champion of good."

"I promise to only use my vast powers for good, and also getting rich," I promised.

"While this is all very interesting, my one question is this: are there any immediate concerns you need to inform the Headmaster and myself of for the coming school year?" McGonagall demanded.

I nodded. "Two things. One, this is the year that Tom's spirit becomes strong enough in Eastern Europe to begin possessing people. He was brought to Hogwarts by one Quirinus Quirrell the first time, but Dumbledore mostly took care of that already I think. We need to be on the lookout for any unusual unicorn deaths, especially if they are drained of blood. If that starts to happen, you can bet your bottom dollar that Tom is behind it and that he's looking to make a comeback in a big way. Also, the Philosopher's Stone. That was his first plan to come back until it was destroyed."

"I will communicate those concerns to Auror Moody," McGonagall agreed. "He's always been suspicious of the Forbidden Forest, so having him patrol it won't be unusual. As for the Stone, the Headmaster is much more closely tied with Mr. Flamel."

"Nicholas is getting tired," Dumbledore said quietly. "He's considering destroying the Stone and allowing himself and Perenelle to finally take the last great journey. I will continue to quietly encourage that, as I have for some years now."

"I'd hate to kill the man, but maybe that's for the best. Man wasn't meant to live forever in a fallen world," I agreed.

"It would be a tragic loss to our knowledge of magic and alchemy, but at the same time I cannot help but think that You-Know-Who gaining an immortal body would be even more tragic," McGonagall agreed. "Thank you for the information Mr. Murphy. I look forward to having a longer discussion soon."

Libra and I left, wandering back through the castle.

"This place is so cool," I said, examining one of the suits of armor. "I just want to know where all the ghosts are."

"Muggles usually can't see them," Libra said. "I think I've spotted a few. Perhaps you can't see them either?"

"Huh. Well, that's slightly disappointing. Oh well. Hey, want to go look for that broom closet?"

"I think we really should be getting back to the children," Libra said. "Perhaps tonight, if you're good."

"Baby I'm always good!"

The house was still standing when we returned, thank God. Dobby had done an excellent job of taking care of the kids while we were gone. I could tell, because his nails were painted red and glittered. Apparently, Marie and Sarah had taken it upon themselves to "decorate" our nanny. Dobby didn't seem to mind, and Harry thought it was hilarious. He'll never admit it, but he's let his sisters paint his nails and toes before, as have I, though Libra has photo proof of my exploits in case I ever get too big for my britches.

Dinner was nice enough. The kids had asked for, surprise surprise, macaroni and cheese. Dobby had made it pretty well, along with some garden salad and bread pudding. It felt good though to have everyone together in our own house, one we were planning on living in for quite some time. Perhaps even with the danger on the horizon, we could weather this storm.

 _Authors Note:_

 _Let's talk math(s). If you find statistics and demographics boring, skip this. You are not missing anything. If, however, like me you find such things interesting, read on._

 _There are six core classes taught for the first five years at Hogwarts and to select students for the last two. Assuming each teacher has seven one hour periods throughout the day, they have forty two class periods to teach in a given week. With no prep time, that means they can teach each year one time each day. Grueling, but doable if there are only about 40 kids in each year, assuming you split them in half and have class sizes of about 20 (which is a good, manageable class size especially since some of these subjects are pretty dangerous). Kids would get core classes three times a week, and if you assume half of them drop most core classes in their 6th and 7th years, you even get some free periods for teachers to do prep work and other duties._

 _However, the number of students at Hogwarts (and indeed, the population of magicals in Great Britain) is really, really hard to pin down in canon, but we can try. With an average class size of 40 you get 280 students at Hogwarts. It is implied most wizarding children in GB and Ireland go to Hogwarts (though some are homeschooled). Approximately 10% of the population would be aged 11-17 (this is a rough estimate because I didn't feel like doing complicated math). Rounding up to 350 (assuming there that 80% of children of age go to Hogwarts) that gives you only about 3500 wizards in GB and Ireland._

 _This number seems really, really low, but is in line with JKRs estimate of a wizarding population of "about 3000." However, this doesn't add up when you look at the Quidditch World Cup where hundreds of wizards worked on a stadium that could seat hundreds of thousands for months. A whopping 33% of the global population would have been there, and most of britain that wasn't in Hogwarts would have had to work on the stadium. This is obviously preposterous: there is no way that high a percent of any population can afford to attend such an event, or would even be interested in it._

 _The other number that presents a problem is that JKR said that Hogwarts student population was "about 1000." Now, obviously if you quadruple the number of students you get a higher wizarding population. However, for various reasons, as stated earlier in the story I agree with the common fan estimate of between 30k-40k magicals in the UK. We can also assume wizards skew older population wise because of their longer lifespans and better healthcare. So, I'm actually going to say Hogwarts has between 1000-1200 students, that 80% possible population attends Hogwarts (others may go to homeschool collective type establishments and a number of kids drop out after their OWLS). This gives us a population of 1500ish 11-17 year olds and we'll assume they only make up 5% of the population (because wizards live longer)._

 _Bada bing, bada boom, you get a population of about 30000 magicals in GB. This is perfect! Wait a moment though, we just created a problem of professorship. This is just too many students and classes for five years of all students and two years of only about half the remainder to be taught by one solitary professor, unless you only have a class once every two weeks. This seems unreasonable._

 _Thus, we have to create a dual professorship. There is a senior and assistant professor. The senior professors teach upper level classes (and when you have The Savior of the Magical World, you teach his year too) and the assistants teach the lower classes. If we keep class sizes somewhat reasonable (30-40 kids in each house for each year) you can totally have a workable schedule. This also means that your senior professors have time to be head of house and do all those wonderful extra duties. Your double classes will get a bit wild with 60-80 kids, but you'll also probably have both professors there to make sure that things don't get out of control._

 _There is an exception to this though: Binns. Binns is a ghost who is boring as hell, and requires neither sleep nor rest. Thus, all the students in a year are lumped together in his class in a large stadium type arrangement where most of them nap or do homework. Everyone knows Binns is the worst teacher in the history of teaching (except for Snape) but he doesn't draw a salary or complain about being worked to the bone (because he doesn't have any) so he keeps getting the job._

 _Also, no Time Turners. This may be a time travel story, but I'll be damned if I'm going to have causality abusing loophole devices running around mucking up my story._


	31. Chapter 31

Hogsmeade village was nothing like anywhere I'd ever lived before. I'd lived in small towns in Hawaii, I'd lived in villages in England, and I'd lived in a big city in Arizona. But I'd never lived in a village that felt like I was living on another planet.

For one thing, magic was everywhere. We saw people levitating things, conjuring stuff out of thin air, riding on brooms, and disappearing and reappearing with snaps and pops. Shops had magical displays of chocolate gnomes that danced in the window, or had cherubs that flew around outside playing little harps (I asked Libra if she wanted to go to Madam Puddifoot's and she informed me she wasn't a love sick teen anymore. So I figured maybe Valentine's or something). At first, I was more than a little worried my family would stick out like sore thumbs, but apparenting being American and having a house elf made us just odd enough to fit in.

We did, however, run into a problem. Libra, it turned out, was more than a little famous among certain elements of the magical community. Holly Diggle nee Goyle wasted little time in spreading around rumors to the entire village. With a population of only about 1000, it didn't take long for every housewife in the entire community to learn that Libra Macnair was back from the dead.

For her part, Libra found the attention intensely annoying, but not nearly as annoying as the pitying looks she got. It was soon widely known that I was an American wizard and Hogwarts professor (which was only half true) that she had married me while trying to escape her family by moving to the States. Libra and I did not feel particularly driven to disabuse everyone of this notion. Still, she was obviously hurt and disturbed by this, and didn't spend much time trying to get to know our neighbors.

The one good thing it did do was steer attention away from Harry. Everyone figured he was simply our son, since Libra and I were both old enough to actually be his parents, and no one expected Harry Potter to have a pidgin accent.

Now, to be clear, Harry did not normally have a thick Hawaiian pidgin accent. He did, however, sound mostly American. He did pronounce a few words in a distinctly British fashion, usually stuff like "mum" or references to British things like football or names of places. Most of the time, though, he could have passed for someone from the States who happened to have a British mother. That said, once he started to get irritated with people for whispering about his mother and asking him if he knew about his sordid family history, Harry changed his accent on the spot. This became Harry's typical response to other kids asking questions:

"Ho brah, you talkin' bad 'bout my mama? You don' wan' do that brah. Shoots brah, I could break you arm for sure. You wan' step outside and talk mo 'bout dis brah?"

No one, so far, had wanted to step outside with the crazy Hawaiian boy. While Harry was still on the skinny side, he was deeply tanned and he had developed quite a bit of muscle from martial arts, hiking, and riding everywhere on his mountain bike.

Sarah, for her part, caught onto this rather quickly. Since she considered Harry to be the coolest person in the entire world (except maybe Sirius or anyone else who let her ride on a broom) she quickly gained a thick pidgin accent as well. Marie was already pretty hard to understand thanks to her speech impediment and James didn't talk much. Yet.

When a little girl asked Sarah if her mother was really a squib, she said: "My bruddah gon' mess you up haoli girl. You don' wan' to be talkin' no trash 'bout my momma. We mess you up like they do up in Puna brah. You see dis? I punch out a moho once brah. Got me a white belt in da karata. Shoots, you no mess with da Murphy keikei we bury you brah."

Marie nodded. "Murphy fight da kine!"

"Fight!" James agreed.

Libra and I were torn between finding this hilarious and trying to lecture our children against threatening violence to others. It was, however, pretty hard to tell Harry to knock it off when I was struggling to keep a straight face. This wasn't even getting into the fact that none of the wizards were "haoli" unless you were using it in the sense that they were caucasian, not that they lacked magic. In which case, Sarah was pretty darn pale herself, though like Harry she had quite the tan.

Another thing that didn't help Harry's case for not being a local boy was that he and his siblings went barefoot whenever they got the chance. In Hawaii, kids just didn't wear shoes outside unless forced to, and Sarah complained endlessly that her shoes made her feet hurt and she wanted her "slippahs." I had a feeling they'd be broken of this habit right around the time it actually started getting cold, but for now they ran around the garden barefoot much to the confusion of our neighbors.

Unfortunately, even a very hard to understand gaggle of children threatening people's kneecaps wasn't enough to prevent the inevitable confrontation between Libra and her family. The wizarding world was, after all, a small place. Thankfully, it wasn't Walden who sought Libra out first, but rather her mother, Lyra. It was morning, and Dobby was making oatmeal for everyone when an owl flew in the kitchen window, landing on a perch that was put there for just such a purpose.

"Mail, Mistress," Dobby called, taking the letter and handing the owl a treat he pulled from somewhere. We hadn't bought any owl treats, so I wasn't really sure where it came from.

Libra took the letter Dobby handed her, then snarled in anger and threw it across the room. She immediately burst into tears and ran over to retrieve through letter from the corner.

"Libra, are you alright?" I asked, coming over to her as she rocked back in forth with the letter clutched in her arms. She showed it to me, and I was able to make out the return address. Lyra Macnair, 8 Hill Street, Montrose, Angus, Scotland.

"Mum what's wrong?" Harry asked, looking up from his breakfast.

"It's nothing, Harry," Libra said, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She took my hand and led me up to our room. After closing the door she sat down on the bed, staring at the crumpled letter in her hands.

"Twenty-one years," she whispered. "Twenty-one years since I've heard one word from my mother."

I sat down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. I kept my mouth shut, just being there for her.

With a snort of disgust, Libra ripped the letter open and started reading it.

 _Dear Libra,_

 _I have heard rumors that you have seen fit to return to society. Apparently, you managed to marry a somewhat proper husband who will be teaching Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. While I personally find the subject to be entirely distasteful, I suppose it would be of some use to someone such as yourself._

 _I am pleased to hear you have survived to adulthood. Please understand, that while I never wished to see you killed, I could not bear the thought that my own daughter was so cursed. To have such a stain on our family honor was deeply distressing to me._

 _It has also been noted that I now have additional grandchildren, at least one of which is magical enough to fly a broom. If he requires anything, let me know. I wish to know his name, and the names of any other children you have. I shall see to it they all receive something for Christmas, though I only wish to see any that prove they are worthy of the Macnair name._

 _I do also have a desire to see you, and meet this Yankee wizard of yours. While I do not think we can ever have the dear relationship we once had, I would at least seek to protect you from harm._

 _Your brother is in good health, with a wife and two children. They are both of good stock, and your own son may see them at Hogwarts. Neither are taking muggle studies as such a subject is not proper for pure blooded wizards to take, but I will instruct them to be respectful to their uncle as he is a wizard and a professor at Hogwarts._

 _Of your brother and his proclivities you are aware. I have warned him not to attempt to harm you or your family, but he and his wife have no desire to see you. Do the intelligent thing and keep well out of his way, and do nothing to embarrass him or me._

 _I shall see you at the Three Broomsticks on 22nd of June at 3pm sharp for tea. Bring your husband and eldest, and perhaps any younger children of proper descent._

 _Lyra Macnair_

"Dear old bitch," I muttered. "Get bent."

Libra snorted a laugh, then started weeping again. I pulled her into a hug, and we sat together for a long time. Libra said some very unpleasant things about her mother, and I mostly grunted in agreement.

Harry knocked on the door to ask if we were OK, and I told him we were fine, and instructed him to take his siblings to Hagrid's Hut. Hagrid had a standing invitation for Harry and his brother and sisters to come and visit at any time, especially over the summer when he had much less to do. Harry had already visited a few times, and really liked the amiable giant, who was tickled pink to be called Uncle Hagrid.

"Take Dobby with you," Libra ordered. "And don't talk to any strange wizards."

"Ok," Harry agreed. A short time later, the house was relatively quiet.

"What should I do?" Libra asked, her voice muffled by the fact that her face was buried in my now damp shirt. "Should I see her?"

"Do you want to?" I asked her quietly.

"I don't know," Libra admitted. "But I do know I don't want her anywhere near my children. I just...I always sort of hoped she still loved me. But this...This wasn't even about me. It was about her, and how I made her feel, and how she wanted proper wizarding grandchildren. She didn't ask how I had been for the last 20 years, what my life was like, or even say that she loved or missed me."

"I take it you do not relish the thought of her being around the children," I asked gently.

LIbra looked up, her face a rictus of rage. "If that woman so much as touches any of our children, I'll kill her myself!" she spat. "What if she finds out Marie is like me? She'll at best ignore her, and at worst tell Walden to kill us both! And what about Harry? If she finds out I'm Harry Potter's mother, she will try and exploit it for her own gain."

"So, should we go with my original response?" I asked. "Or maybe something with a little stronger invective. Or, perhaps we could go with General McAuliffe's reply to the Nazis. It's a classic."

"And what did the general have to say?" Libra inquired.

"Nuts."

Libra burst out laughing again. "I'm halfway tempted to do just that," she mused. Then sighed. "But I refuse to be dragged down to the same level as that...woman."

Libra sat down with a bit of parchment, and after a short while composed a note and showed it to me.

" _Dear Mother,_

 _For many years, I hated you or wept for you. I never knew whether to believe you had abandoned me or you had been killed by my father and his friends. I spent many nights hoping you would return for me, to give me the comfort and hope I so craved._

 _You never came. I know now this was not because you could not, nor because you feared for your own life. It was because you despise me as much as my father and brother do, but lack the drive to kill me. I do not know why you spared my life, but for that, I am grateful. Thank you._

 _For the other, I forgive you. I forgive the long nights of weeping, the long days of fear, the long years of waiting. I forgive you for all of that. Not because I love you, but because Christ does, and through him I can find strength._

 _You never came for me, but my husband did. He found me and has loved me and treasured me for who I am. Not because my blood is pure or my magic strong or because I had wealth or connections or anything he wanted. He loved me because he is a good man. I have found peace and love in his arms, and I have even found the light of God._

 _I have four children, and love them very much. I do not care if they ever become great wizards or witches. I love them because they are mine, and nothing they do or say or become will ever change that._

 _I do not wish to see you. It is clear that you do not truly wish to see me. My husband's office hours at Hogwarts are publically available and all may inquire with the Headmaster or Headmistress to make an appointment to see him. If you desire to do so, you know where to send the owl._

 _As for my children, I do not wish to teach them the same hatred and evil that so infuses your world view. As far as they are concerned, you are never to speak to them or meet with them without myself and my husband present. When they are old enough, perhaps they will express a desire to meet you. If and when that happens, they may make their own choice._

 _As for my brother, I wish him well. I pray that he one day is able to find the peace and love of God, the same as I pray for you daily. Until he does find that peace, I have no desire to endanger myself or my family by seeing him. I am certain the feeling is mutual._

 _We have already erected wards around this house to keep those who mean my family harm away. We shall erect additional wards to keep you and Walden away. If you wish to see us, owl, and we can find a neutral meeting ground. It will be only myself and my husband, and a neutral third party to arbitrate, such as Sirius Black, whose pedigree and character even you cannot dispute._

 _Libra Murphy_

"What do you think?" Libra asked, biting her lip as I read the letter.

I shrugged. "It's good. I think you communicate everything you need to. You did say 'go to hell' a whole lot nicer than I would have. Though some of it makes my ears red."

Libra sighed, folding up the letter and stuffing it in the envelope. She walked back down stairs to where the owl was sleeping with its head tucked under its wing on the perch. She tied the envelope to the owls leg, and it hooted softly. After a moment, the owl ruffled its feathers, looked up at us, bobbed its head twice, then turned and flew back out the window.

Libra put her arm around me, tears still in her eyes. I hugged her close, stroking her hair as she once more sobbed onto my shoulder.

"It's done. She's never loved me, David. And I fear she never will."

"I love you," I told her softly. "And I always will. Even if you wake up tomorrow the most powerful witch in the world."

We didn't take long to wallow in self pity though. Libra and I quickly got dressed, then hurried to Hogwarts. It was a mile walk, but we did it quickly. We spied the kids and Dobby by Hagrid's shack, and Marie ran over to show us the Daisy chain he was teaching them to make. Hagrid had flowers stuck in his beard, probably by Marie and Sarah, and blushed slightly when we came over to say hello.

"They bin no trouble at all Professor Murphy sir," Hagrid said, standing up as Fang trotted over to sniff at me.

I scratched the enormous boarhound under the chin, and the big dog sneeze and padded over to where Dobby was helping James make a daisy chain of his own, to lay down in the sun. "Libra and I have some business at the castle. You mind if they stay here for a bit Hagrid? And please, don't call me Professor when it's just us and the family. David is fine."

"Yeah, o' course Dave," Hagrid agreed happily. "The kids is no trouble. Very well behaved they is. Thought maybe we'd go lookin' fer unicorns in a bit. Mare had a colt just las' week, and the girls would be jus' perfect to go take a looksee."

"Daddy please!" Sarah begged. "I want to see a unicorn baby!"

"Pweese daddy?" Marie echoed, clasping her hands together and giving me puppy dog eyes.

I smiled and ruffled her hair. "As long as Hagrid thinks its safe for you to go in there. And remember, never go into that forest without Uncle Hagrid. He's the only one who knows it well enough."

"Yah, we won't be goin' deep inter the forest or nothin'," Hagrid agreed. "Jus' a clearin' close by like."

"I guess that might be cool," Harry said casually. "Unicorns are kinda for girls though."

"I am a girl!" Sarah said, stomping her foot and glaring at her older brother. "And unicorns are too cool! Uncle Hagrid said they're magic!"

"Alright, you can go," Libra said. "But stay with Hagrid, and don't wander off. There are all sorts of things in that forest."

"What about snakes?" Harry asked suddenly. "Are there snakes? I haven't even seen one in our garden yet!"

"Well I suppose there is snakes somewhere in the forest," Hagrid rumbled, scratching at his beard. "Don' know why yeh'd want to find one though. Not really many magical snakes 'round here."

"Harry has an affinity for them," I said. "He can talk to them and he hasn't had the chance in years."

"Oh!" Hagrid said, looking surprised. "Well, that's dead useful ain' it? I suppose we could go and look fer some snakes while we're out. Maybe I'll see if Professor Kettleburn has any two headed mangorans left from his NEWT class las' year."

"Are they venomous?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, spit too. Blind a man at twenty paces they can."

"Let's maybe stick to the non-magical snakes until Harry's old enough to handle them himself," I said. "Just garter snakes and adders and stuff. Well, maybe not the adders."

"O' course, o' course, though mangorans are righ' fascinatin' critters yeh know," Hagrid said.

Libra looked to Dobby. "Dobby, no poisonous snakes."

"Yes mistress," Dobby agreed. "Dobby will keep poisonous snakes from all the children, even Master Harry."

"Well, yeh know snakes ain't poisonous, they're venomous. Yeh see, poison is somethin' yeh eat, where venom is what snakes and other critters use when they bite or spit at yeh," Hagrid said.

"Let's just nix the poison and the venom both," I said. "Have fun kids."

They all waved, and we hurried to the castle. It was mostly empty, with all but Filch and Hagrid gone along with the house elves. However, the Owlery was there, along with the owls for taking letters off to all the prospective students. We made our way there, hurrying along the mazes of corridors and moving staircases.

"Still haven't found the broom closet," I mused as we walked down a hallway.

"I don't know whether to tell you now is not the time or drag you into one," Libra said, shaking her head.

I was about to say something witty (or at least try) when we rounded the corner and nearly ran straight into someone.

"Oh!" Libra said, jerking to a hault. "Sorry, we didn't realize anyone was about."

Severus Snape looked down his long nose at his, his expression unreadable. "Some of us still have duties to fulfill," he drawled. "What brings you to the castle on this day? Didn't I see your...children... playing at the Groundskeeper's hut?"

"You did," I confirmed, stepping around Snape. "But we have a bit of an emergency and need to contact the headmaster."

Snape glided back in front of us, his expression narrowing. "What sort of emergency? The Headmaster is not well. Perhaps I can assist you."

"Not your concern, Professor," I said, determinedly stepping around Snape again. Libra, however, put a hand on my arm.

"It's my brother and mother. They've contacted us. My mother hinted that Walden could be a threat to our family. We want him to help construct wards to keep them away."

"Ah." Snape nodded, his lips thinning until they almost disappeared. "Walden and his...appetites...are well known. Especially by those of us who once associated with the Dark Lord and his minions. Perhaps I can be of assistance. I am somewhat skilled at the erection of wards."

I gritted my teeth, biting down on a scathing retort. I looked to Libra, who shrugged. "He did seem loyal to Harry, didn't he," she whispered in my ear.

I reluctantly nodded. "Thank you," I said to Snape. "Though I'd still like to send a message to the Headmaster."

"He is here," Snape said. "But he is unwell. I would suggest you leave him be for the time being. I shall inform him of the situation when he awakens."

With that, we turned and walked awkwardly back through the castle, following Snape's lead as he was far better at navigating the corridors than either of us were.

"I suppose I owe you an apology," Snape said out of the blue as we were descending a staircase. "My behavior at our first meeting was rude and condescending. I allowed my biases and dislike of James Potter to blind me to certain realities."

I jerked to a stop, which caused Libra to halt beside me. I was so stunned it took Snape a good ten seconds to realize he had left us behind. He paused on the landing, frowning at us. "Don't stay there. This staircase will move shortly."

I forced myself back into motion, but looked to Libra who seemed just as baffled as I was.

"Um, we forgive you?" I managed. "That was a long time ago. It's water under the bridge."

"I'm certain our relations will be perfectly cordial moving forward," Libra added.

Snape didn't say anything, only turning once we reached him and leading the way further down towards the exit.

"You seem...changed," Libra said as we approached the exit a few minutes later. "I suppose we've all grown these last six years."

"Some more than others," I muttered. Libra, for once, didn't seem to disagree with my commentary.

Snape turned about suddenly, eying us. We both came to an abrupt halt, surprised. After a moment, Snape nodded. "Come. Hogwarts has ears everywhere." With no further explanation, he spun about again and kept walking.

Well. Good to see Snape hadn't become cryptic or anything.


	32. Chapter 32

Now thoroughly confused, we followed Snape out into the sunlight. Clouds were building in the distance and it looked like rain this afternoon, but for now it was a beautiful day. The kids and Hagrid were gone, probably to look for the unicorn. That was fine; while the forest was dangerous I figured between Hagrid and Dobby the kids would be safe, and after all we did live practically on the forest's doorstep. They'd have to learn how to respect it at some point.

We passed through the gate when Snape slowed half a pace, coming to walk beside us. "The Headmaster had a conversation with me shortly after I left your company at the safe house," Snape said without preamble. "It seems he had been monitoring us, and had heard and seen all that we had said and done."

"He do that often?" I asked. "He does sort of look like Santa Claus."

Snape gave me a look that said "you're stupid, but I'm not going to point that out because we both know it" and continued his story.

"The Headmaster had long told me that I was stewing in my own bitterness, and that I needed to move on with my life. I was, naturally, young and foolish and refused to listen to him. I believed my self-loathing and bitterness was justified, and that it was the world that needed to change, not I."

I did not interject with another sarcastic remark, but let me tell you, I thought of some real zingers.

"As you apparently know, I had something of a fondness for Lily...Potter. While I loathed James Potter, his bride was a childhood friend and I once harbord the secret wish that one day we would be wed. When she chose another, I blamed him. I saw only the negative qualities of James Potter, and thought he had robbed me of my prize.'

"Those same negative qualities I saw in the both of you. Brash arrogance, a belief in your own self righteousness, the inability to see how your actions harmed and endangered others, and of course, the affection of someone I loved where I only experienced rejection. In this case, the love of Harry, whereas I, in Harry's own words, 'smelled funny.'"

Even I wasn't really sure whether I should be offended, flattered, or disgusted. Libra, on the other hand, seemed to know what to say.

"Is there some meaning behind this tale? We already agreed to forgive your past actions. There is no need to dissect them so," Libra said with just a hint of irritation in her tone.

"I do not mean to explain my past actions, though perhaps now you can understand who I was better," Snape answered cooly. "Instead, I mean to lay out my sins in much the same manner that the Headmaster did."

"He told me that you, Mr. Murphy, had predicted that I would be odious and poorly behaved, that I would mistreat Harry and all associated with him, and that I would seek to blame others for my actions. All these things did indeed come to pass. He never told me how you knew such things, though I have my suspicions, but he showed me memories of his own that proved his words."

"After a long talk, the Headmaster told me he feared for my life, for my future, and for my very soul. He told me I would die bitter and alone, a failure to Lily and her memory. That she would be disgusted by who I had become, and that the reason she had chosen another was because I myself was to blame. And that if I ever wished to be the sort of person Lily would have grown fond of, I needed to change."

"He ordered me to leave the country for a year, to go on sabbatical and examine who I was. He sent me to his old master, Nicolas Flamel, to learn this. He brought in another assistant for old Slughorn, who was the senior potions master at the time, put me on a ship, and bade me farewell. His exact word at our parting are something I shall remember eternally. 'Come back changed, Severus, or do not come back at all. You are no good to Harry or Lily a poisoned man.'"

"Naturally I deeply resented this. Was not the world to blame for who I was? Had it not been Lily and not I, who forsook our friendship? Had it not been my friends who led me down a dark path? Had it not been Sirius Black who forced me into the arms of the Dark Lord by his reckless folly in attempting to murder me?"

I don't know how I didn't answer his questions. It was probably because Libra squeezed my arm hard enough to leave a mark.

"Initially I thought only to use my time with Flamel to learn the ancient and advanced arts he alone knew. I was disappointed."

"Flamel did not and does not live in a grand manse or luxurious palace. He lives on a quaint little farm. At the time, he was in the south of France near Toulouse, though I believe he has since taken up at least part time residence near Devon. While I had thought I would spend my days in research with the ancient man in his private laboratory, instead I spent it in his vineyards and widepress making wine. Not magical wine, made from exotic species of grapes and created through magical means, but ordinary muggle fare one can help create on those tours that young couples find so popular. Perhaps you would enjoy one yourselves."

Ok, seriously, what the hell. Who had kidnapped Snape, and who was this guy? Although to be fair, a wine tour of France with Libra sounded nice.

"Flamel spent his days milking his cows, making cheese, tending his vines, making wine, and setting in the sun with his wife. He rarely, if ever, practiced the art of alchemy for which he was so famed, except perhaps to occasionally create his Elixir of Life, though I never saw him do so."

"At first I was incensed. How dare this man so treat me? I was already one of the top ten potions masters in the world. Now I can safely say I am the foremost. This did not matter to Flamel. I spent the first two months isolated in my quarters, brewing and raging at the injustice of the world and at my mistreatment at the hands of old men."

"It was not, in fact, Flamel who coaxed me forth. It was his great however many times removed granddaughter, Sophia. Sophia is ten years younger than I. At the time, she was 15. She lived with Nicholas and Perenelle, as she had done since she was a small girl. I had helped kill her parents."

"The Dark Lord had wanted the Stone. His followers had kidnapped Sophia's parents when she was little more than a babe. In their plan, they may have been aided by some of my brews. I do not know. It does not matter. I was their comrade, and would have aided them if so ordered. I would have even relished the chance: Sophia's father was a muggle baker, her mother a squib. They were tortured for a week until Nicholas arrived and slew or drove off the captors. Sophia's mother was already dead. Her father died two years later, a shattered and broken man not even the Elixir of Life could cure."

"Sophia knew I was a marked Death Eater. How could she not? She had seen my mark. She had heard my past. I even disliked her from the moment we met. She was nothing like Lily had been, but was a silly girl who, while she had magic of her own, was a weak witch who would never achieve greatness. She had little ambition or drive. She should have returned my dislike with hatred."

"She did not. She was kind to me. Made me bread, as her father had done for her. Encouraged me to dine with her and her guardians. Asked me to show her what I was brewing, and to make a love potion for her and a local boy she fancied when he returned from Beauxbaton. Sophia was homeschooled by her guardians, though she could have attended that school if she desired, as poor as her magic was."

"Slowly and reluctantly, I began to talk with Sophia. I took meals with Nicholas and Perenelle. One night, I confessed my sins to Sophia. I told her I was wicked and evil. I expected her to hate me. I wanted her to hate me, to affirm my hatred of the world."

"She didn't speak to me for a day. Then, I found her in my lab when I returned from gathering ingredients, waiting for me."

"What are we making today, Severus?"

"That is what she said to me. I could not believe it. I asked her why she did not hate me. She shrugged. She told me she could spend her life in bitterness as I did, or she could forgive me and move on. Obviously, I was not the man I had once been. I was trusted by Albus Dumbledore and her grandfather. Men she respected and trusted. I must have done something to redeem myself, or be worthy of redemption. And so, she would not hate me. She said, "That would only harm me and give the people who killed my parents their victory."

"I broke down and wept that night when she was gone. I had been wrong about Sophia. She was everything like what Lily had been, the same sort of person Lily had become. Lily had given James Potter a chance to redeem himself. He had. She had also, I realized, tried to give me a chance to do the same. A hundred chances. A thousand. I had failed her every time. I had failed her son when I saw him. And if I did not change, I would do so again, and again, and again, until the memory of Lily Potter was forever destroyed."

We were sitting around our kitchen table. Snape had talked on and off for a long while, stopping when we approached the village and to set the wards we'd asked for around the house. He had a mug of tea in his hands, and hadn't even insulted Libra or I when we'd put ice in ours. He just kept talking, telling his insane story.

"Let me guess," I said, once the silence stretched on for a long while. "You ended up marrying Sophie and she's changed you forever or something."

"What? No. Do not be absurd. This is not some insipid love story. Sophie married the same French boy she was in love with. I gave her a love potion on their wedding night. She was only 17, but Renne is not a complete idiot and got a decent job at the French Ministry in their Department of Transportation before he proposed. They have two children; I saw them last April when I took holiday in France."

"Oh. Cause, you see, I thought you were going somewhere with that, but now I'm kinda lost," I said. "Why are you telling us this? You don't seem like the type who opens up to well, anyone."

"Because it seems I have you to thank for my journey of self discovery, Mr. Murphy," Snape said. He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing at me. "And you are also Harry's father. You are the guardian of Lily's legacy. At one time, you had strong reasons to distrust my ability as a teacher and guardian for Harry. I tell you now that the man you saw six years ago is gone. If you entrust Harry's safety into my hands, you will not be disappointed. You can rely on me."

I stared at Snape incredulously. Libra spoke up before I could say something else dumb. "And what, exactly, are your suspicions about our family?"

Snape leaned back, stirring his tea absently with a spoon. He tapped the spoon on the edge of his mug, setting it down on a napkin before answering. "I suspected that you are were some sort of odd seer at first. Someone who had visions of the past and future. However, upon further reflection, I discounted this. You have other odd abilities. Magic seems to do nothing to you. Thus, I concluded that you were some sort of magical creature with odd powers I had never heard of."

"However, upon further reflection I had to dismiss that theory as ludicrous. You have as your wife a woman I know is a squib. She is human. Unless you have kidnapped all your children, which I sincerely doubt as you do not possess that amount of cunning, there is simply no way you are anything other than human."

I blinked and looked at Libra. She shrugged as Snape continued.

"You speak of odd things, and have an odd inflection on your words. I knew many wizards who grew up in the same region you claim to. They do not speak as you do. I have visited the Americas, and I have heard muggles with similar accents, yet they are subtly different."

"I have spent an awful lot of time in Hawaii and the UK," I said. "Been lots of places. Picked up how I talk from there."

"Ah, yes, this is true. You are apparently a well traveled individual. Alone, your manner of speaking would not be of any interest. But it is when combined with your seemingly impossible knowledge, your immunity to magic, and your odd word choice-"

"What is wrong with how I talk?" I asked no one in particular. "Nobody's ever even said I talk funny before."

"You, Mr. Murphy, are one of three things," Snape said, ignoring my outburst. He held up three fingers. "One. You are some sort of spirit possessing a muggle that has knowledge of the past and future, along with powers that prevent ordinary wizards from affecting you. Two. You are from the future, and gained your odd abilities there. Three. You are from an alternate dimension, and are a version of someone in this timeline who was somehow more intimately familiar with circumstances there, and is not fully present in this reality on a metaphysical level."

My eyes just about bugged out of my head. Libra shook her head slowly. "Mr. Snape, you have done something I thought no one but myself was capable of."

"Oh?" Snape said, frowning. "And what is that?"

"Rendered my husband completely speechless."

I burst out laughing, which made Snape frown at both of us as Libra and I held on to each other and giggled hysterically. Finally, I wiped my eyes with a napkin and got control of myself.

"Oh man, it's good to know that if one thing hasn't changed, it's that you have no sense of humor and are still a pompous asshole."

"David!" Libra said, trying to slap me before she dissolved into giggles again.

"I see I am unwelcome. Your wards are set. I shall-"

"No, no, stay," I said, waving Snape back down. "You're two for three. Sorry. We just have had a really rough morning. Finding out your mother and brother in law want your blood and to kidnap your babies isn't exactly easy on you."

Snape remained standing, frowning at both of us.

"Oh sit down," I said. "You were right. And your story was interesting. Want to hear mine?"

Snape slowly sat. "As long as it is not as insipid as I fear it might be."

And so, I told Snape what happened. He was a polite, if somewhat cold, audience. "And so, that's why I knew about you. And didn't like you very much. You were kind of an asshole in the books. Frankly, you seemed like a cartoon villain. But, I'm glad to be proven wrong. Hell, I thought Dumbledore was an incompetent, old, selfish fool. Kinda regret that one."

Snape nodded once. "Well, despite the fact that you seem determined to either cast your story as some sort of religious experience or love ballad, I find it somewhat credible. These books you speak of explain why you would know so much and so little at the same time. You have, it seems, at least done your best to keep Harry safe, even if in a rather mundane and roundabout way."

"You are just like, the most epic killjoy ever, aren't you?" I asked.

Snape glowered at me. I gave him my best dopey grin, as that seemed the best way to get on his nerves without actually trying. Snape looked about ready to storm off, when Libra spoke.

"Well, the children and Dobby should be home for dinner soon. Why don't you stay for a while? I'm sure you would like to meet Harry again."

Snape seemed taken aback by this. I was taken aback by this. I did not want to be buddy buddy with Snape. Snape did not want to be buddy buddy with me. I think the only possible way we could irritate each other more is if I were Sirius Black. Though I might have to try the name puns on him if I got a chance.

"I would not wish to interrupt your family dinner," Snape said. "Or impose myself further. I have duties to attend to."

"Harry would like to hear stories about Lily, you know."

It took me a second to realize I'd been the one to say that. I mean, it was true, but that made it almost sound like I wanted Snape to be there.

Snape paused, a look of longing and sorrow passing over his face. "You think so?"

"Sirius has told him a lot about his father," Libra said. "But he wasn't best friends with Lily. You were. It would be good for him to hear about what she was like."

Snape considered this. "Very well."

And then Snape sort of hung out awkwardly for 45 minutes. Libra summoned Dobby and told him to bring the kids home and to thank Hagrid for her. I could not summon Dobby. I'd tried, and the elf said he just couldn't hear me. Made sense really. Dobby assured us they were on their way home, and the kids got in covered in dirt and sweat and exhausted, looking like they had the time of their lives with Hagrid.

"Mummy mummy mummy mummy mummy!" Sarah and Marie chanted as they ran into the house, barefoot and with their jeans torn and stained.

"Guess what?!" Sarah shrieked as she jumped around the kitchen, holding on to Libra's apron.

"What?" Libra asked, bending down to look the two grinning children in the eyes.

"UNICORNS!" the girls shrieked, then started dancing around the room and trying to tell us everything about their adventure at once.

James ran in and immediately climbed up on the first first available lap. This turned out to be Snape's. Snape started, but James held out his hand with a serious expression on his face. "Lookit."

Snape peered at the grubby fist, more out of shock than anything else. James opened his hand to reveal a dead bug of some sort. "Magic." James pronounced.

Then the damn bug came to life and turned out to be some sort of pixie, which went zipping about the room shrieking at an even higher pitch than the girls somehow.

"James, no!" Harry shouted, running and and trying to swat at the fairy with his newly returned broom.

"Not in the house!" I shouted at Harry. I grabbed the newspaper and started smacking at the fairy. "Out! Out! No fae in the house!"

James started to cry, complaining that the fairy was his and I was trying to hurt it or something. It was hard to tell, because the girls were now screaming in panic because the fairy was buzzing them, Harry was screaming because it sounded like a good idea, and Libra was shouting for everyone to be quiet.

Snape raised his wand, a look of bafflement on his face, and there was a bang. The fairy zoomed into his hand, where he transfigured a set of chopsticks left over from when Sirius had brought us take out two nights before into cage. He put the fairy inside, and set the cage on the table, where the fairy rattled the bars a bit before slumping at the bottom of the cage and buzzing its wings a couple of times.

We all panted and looked at it, until James picked the cage up and looked inside. He smiled and laughed, then hugged Snape. "Thank Uncle." The he hopped off and trotted out to the garden, where he put the fairy lamp on a rock and watched it.

"Sorry, he just kept crying whenever Hagrid or I tried to take it away and I figured it was dead so it didn't matter," Harry apologize. "Nice save Uncle. Who're you?"

"I…" Snape paused, blinking. "I am Severus Snape. We met before, though you were quite young."

"Oh yeah, you're the guy who smelled like feet," Harry said. "You teach with mum and dad right?"

"Harry, that's not a kind thing to say to your professor," Libra called from the kitchen where she and Dobby were mopping up the mess of the alfredo sauce the girls had made. She was making fettuccine alfredo with garlic breadsticks, a favorite of mine and Snapes apparently, because he'd remarked he liked the dish. Who knew?

"Sorry Uncle Snape," Harry said. "I was little. Hey, want to see the adder I found?"

"Harry I said no venomous snakes!" I said in exasperation. "Not in the house! Not anywhere!"

"Oh come on dad you used to catch rattlesnakes and Inigo Snaketoya says he'll be good. Plus he's still little." Harry reached into his pocket and to my dawning horror pulled out an adder. He hissed at it, and the snake waved it's tail at us. "See? He's totally well behaved. He da kine snake."

"Did you," Snape said slowly, "just talk to that snake?"

Harry nodded as the snake curled around his arm. "Yeah it's one of my wizard powers. I put my extra point of int into Language: Parselmouth when I got my first level up."

"Harry! No venomous snakes in the house!" I half shouted, pointing outside. "Go put that thing in something before it bites one of your siblings because they tried to touch it!"

"OK, OK," Harry agreed. "I'll go put him in the garden. He says he's tired anyway."

I made Harry put the snake into an old wash bin and we put a lid on it. I wasn't sure if it would hold the damn thing until I could get rid of it but at least it wasn't in Harry's room or something.

"You should be grounded for a whole week!" I said before we went back inside. "I specifically told you no venomous snakes!"

"Dad it's fine! He says he won't bite anyone unless I ask him too. Plus, he's more dangerous than a milk snake. If mom's brother comes, I can sic Inigo on him and kill him before he does anything."

I paused, considering this. "You want to use the snake to protect us?"

"Yeah. I mean, I don't have a wand or anything yet but I figure I can make the snake help keep us safe. Dobby says he can magic the venom out if he bites one of the babies so we'll be fine."

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Harry, did you ever consider that a full grown wizard who makes a profession out of killing far more dangerous animals than a common adder might just be able to do the same thing?"

"Oh." Harry deflated slightly, looking ashamed and guilty. "Um, I screwed up didn't I?"

"It's alright," I patted him on the back. "But you have to clean up dishes for a week, without Dobby's help. And if you bring anther venomous snake back to this house, so help me God you won't see another broom until you're 20."

"Ok. Sorry dad. I should have listened. I just...I wanted to help."

"I know son. It's OK."

We went back inside, where Snape still looked slightly dazed as Sarah and Marie tag-teamed him with their account of the adventure with the unicorn foal. Apparently, it had let them pet it, but not Harry or James (Harry would later swear up and down that he didn't care, and he hadn't wanted to pet it anyway, but I caught the wistful look he gave the girls).

"Are they always so...verbose?" Snape asked me when Libra ordered them to go wash up for dinner.

"Nah, sometimes they're really talkative," I said, pulling James and handing him off to Harry. His shirt was filthy, and I wanted him changed before dinner.

"I cannot decide if you are being facetious or truthful," Snape said, slowly shaking his head. "This is why I only teach OWL's and above."

"So you're not teaching Harry this year?" I asked, sitting down across from Snape.

"No. Originally the Headmaster wanted all the senior professors to teach Harry, but the Headmistress talked him out of such blatant favoritism. A few years ago he might have put his foot down, but he's too tired these days to argue with her. I cannot say that I am ungrateful. I have no patience for novices."

"Eh they're cute when they're little," I said. "Course, the cutest one is a bit older."

Libra leaned over to kiss me as she set down the tray of breadsticks, piping hot and fresh out of the oven.

"Wait for dinner, you'll just burn yourself," she told me as she went back to finish up.

I wiped my singed fingers off on my napkin and grinned sheepishly. "She knows me too well."

Snape was withdrawn throughout the meal, not saying much and eating relatively little, though he did manage to pay Libra a semi-compliment.

"It was quite filling, and somewhat reminds me of authentic dishes I have eaten before."

Libra smiled and took it in good humor, but I think she didn't quite hear Snape over James loudly complaining that "Tinkerbell hungry, momma give her foods" as the dishes were cleared away by Dobby and Harry.

"That specimen is male," Snape informed James in a matter of fact tone. "It is a Highland Flitter. They are a common species, though their wings and hair have a use in a number of potions."

"Ewww!" Harry and Sarah said at the same time.

"Do you actually take their wings off?" Harry asked as he took Snape's plate.

"I prefer to purchase my ingredients from an apothecary, but when necessary I harvest my own ingredients," Snape answered.

"Awesome!" Harry said. "What kind of potions do you make? Is there one that can like make you super strong and stuff?"

Snape happily lectured Harry throughout dessert on locally available potions ingredients and their uses in common potions, including a Giant's Strength Elixir.

"You can totally make one of those in DnD!" Harry said. "I used one to pound an ogre chieftains face in one time! But you needed like, a magic mushroom and some giant bone marrow to make it."

"You know, your mother was quite adept at brewing potions," Snape said. He paused, then qualified, "Your birth mother, that is. Lily...Potter. She was a childhood friend of mine."

Harry paused in licking the custard off of his spoon. "Really? What was she like? Uncle Sirius told me a little bit about her but he mostly talks about James. I mean, James my other dad James. Not baby James."

Snape and Harry talked for another hour while Libra and I made the other children bathe and get ready for bed, as it was getting late. Once Snape realized we were getting the kids ready for bed, he stood and made his farewells, in a somewhat awkward and stilted manner. He didn't shove the kids away when they hugged him goodnight though, so I guess he wasn't a complete moron even if he did grimace a little. Who grimaces when a 3 year old girl with pigtails gives you a good night hug? A monster, that's who. Or a Slytherin. Same thing really.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Mr P- Murphy," Snape told Harry. "Perhaps you will join me in Slytherin, where I am head of house. The parselmouth ability is closely associated with my house."

"Nah, I don't want to be a minion or a sith so I'm going to be in Hufflepuff. Maybe Gryffindor if I can't do that, Uncle Sirius and Uncle Remus were there and they're pretty cool. You're OK too, but I don't think I want to hang out in dungeons all day if I won't even get any XP. Good night!"

The look on Snape's face as Harry took James up to bed was 100% worth having to put up with him for the evening. It mixed shock, horror, anger, and just a hint of confusion and terror. Perfection.

"Perhaps he is Lily's son after all," Snape said, shaking his head. "But I think he has a bit too much of James in him."

"He's our son now," Libra said, coming to stand beside me.

"Yes," Snape said, nodding slowly. "I suppose he is. Good evening."

With that, he left in a bat-like swirl of robes.

"He's not as bad as I thought he'd be," I mused once the door was closed.

"No, he even managed to be somewhat pleasant," Libra agreed.

"Still a creepy jerk though?" I asked.

"Oh, certainly. The man has even less social skills than you do. I'd say that's impressive, but it's more sad really. I get the sense that he's very lonely."

"Probably. But I am grateful he put up those wards. Hopefully, you can sleep well tonight," I said to Libra.

She sighed and dropped down. "I don't know. A part of me still wants to see my mother, but…"

"No matter what you pick, it will be OK," I said, standing up on tiptoe to kiss the top of her head. "Come on. It's been a long day. Let's get to bed."

Libra didn't get much sleep that night, or for quite a few nights to come. The nightmares came back with a vengeance. They'd never really gone away completely, every month or so I would find her weeping in her sleep or jerking awake in the middle of the night, but this time they lasted for weeks. They were not as intense as they had been right before we'd gotten married, but it was still bad.

I could only be there to comfort her, and pray they would never become a reality.


	33. Chapter 33

Throughout most of my life, I have mostly attempted to solve problems by either ignoring them or trying to move away from them. This strategy, shockingly, has not always been that effective. I tried to ignore the Harry problem when he and Dudley first showed up, trying to convince myself I was imagining things. That resulted in Harry getting a beating. Then I tried to ignore that he was a wizard until Libra showed up. Then I just cooled my heels until Dumbledore showed up. Then I didn't do much until Sirius literal beat the tar out of me. Then I ran away to Hawaii, but that didn't work because Akeakamai showed up. I had not once sought someone out, they had been sent to me.

Well this time, we were going to be a bit more proactive. Harry was going to need some friends and allies while he was at school. So, after talking it over with Libra, I sent a letter to the one family I knew had always been there for Harry. I wrote the Weasley's, and braced myself for the Church Lady tempest that was about to engulf us.

Now, the Weasley's didn't go to church. They were not, as far as I am aware, even remotely concerned with church or God at the time. However, being a Church Lady isn't so much a part of being at Church, as it is a lifestyle. And Molly Weasley was one hell of a Church Lady.

For the uninitiated, a Church Lady is a woman, typically one who either has older children or adult children, who has through long experience decided that God has ordained that she should run everyone's lives for them, much as she runs the lives of her children. Note that Church Ladies don't do this because they're mean, but because they honestly think they know best. They have an irritating habit of frequently being right because they have so much experience. They also try to make sure everyone eats enough by organizing umpteen church potlucks and tend to be phenomenal cooks, and it's sort of hard to get really angry at someone who is always giving you delicious food.

Then, of course, there is the fact that they make anime fans look like amateurs when it comes to shipping. Not the postal kind, but the "I'm going to set everyone up with their life partner so they can all get married and have babies" kind. Thankfully I was already married and my kids were too young for this, but I was fairly certain Molly would try to get any nearby bachelors or bachelorettes hooked up. Poor, poor Remus. And of course, the really irritating thing about this shipping was, unlike anime fans, Church Ladies actually tend to be good at this and were responsible for like 90% of the Christian marriages I'd seen. I had managed to escape this plot, but I'd literally needed a deus ex machina to manage that.

All this combined means that Church Ladies irritated me to the bone. While I had loved Molly Weasley in the books, my very brief in the flesh exposure to her had rubbed me the wrong way. That said, there was literally no one else on earth who would be faster to go to bat for you than a Church Lady. If she decided you were part of her family, she would pray for you, then go yell, bludgeon, or feed into a coma whoever it was that was on her bad side. I recalled that Molly had literally stood up to torture and death for Harry in the books, and that she had never had anything less than his best interests at heart.

Plus, despite the flak he got, Ron Weasley had been a great friend to Harry and had helped him get through some tough times. He might not be the smartest or hardest working person on earth, but for crying out loud he'd been a teenager. You show me a teenage boy who isn't occasionally lazy or dumb. Ron had always come through for Harry, and had frequently put Harry's needs first even when it sucked for him.

Of course I'd try to make sure Harry became friends with Hermione too, but honestly I wasn't sure how to work that. I'd thought about introducing Harry to them by booking a dentist appointment way back when, but showing up and saying "Hi, your daughter's a witch, my son's a wizard, and I'm from the future let's be friends" just seemed kind of dumb. Besides, Hermione was a classic teacher's pet, and those were already really irritating in small children.

I wrote:

 _Dear Arthur and Molly,_

 _Hello, this is David and Libra Murphy. You may remember us from that small incident involving Sirius Black and Libra convalescing with you for a few days back in 1987. We know it's been a long time since then, but wanted to thank you for your help._

 _As you may know, we left the country for some time to get away from the dangers our family faced. Circumstances have forced us to return. We remember your kindness from our time here before, and wanted to reach out to you._

 _As you know, our son Harry is 11 now and will be attending Hogwarts in the fall. We also have two daughters ages 4 and 3, and our youngest son will be 2 next month. We are still getting settled in to our new home in Hogsmeade, and would like to invite you over for dinner some time._

 _Regards_

 _David and Libra Murphy_

I gave my letter to a Hogsmeade postal owl and waited.

Thankfully, like most Church Ladies, Molly Weasley had some sort of sixth sense when it came to people needing advice and mothering (which, I hate to say, we did) and we got a reply the very next morning. Which was impressive, because Errol the Owl looked like he had one talon in the grave and the other was missing. Dobby actually performed some sort of weird owl CPR on the bird when he collapsed in the kitchen during breakfast.

 _Dear David and Libra,_

 _Of course we remember you! Arthur and I are so pleased that you two were able to get married. I'm sad you didn't invite us to the wedding, but I understand you did the same thing we did and eloped. Those happy days together are some of my fondest memories even if they happened during the darkest part of the last war. I hope you two had the same sort of happy times together! I know you've been excellent parents for Harry and that your time in Hawaii was lovely._

 _My son Ronald is the same age as your Harry, and our daughter Ginerva is a year younger than the both of them. I'm sure they'll get along famously. I'm sure you remember our middle son Percy as well. We just got the news that he's been made a prefect at Hogwarts! We are ever so proud of him, and we both know that we owe your family a great debt in that you saved Percy and the rest of our family from that awful man Peter Pettigrew who was disguised as a horrid rat of all things._

 _Dumbledore never really explained how you knew Peter was hiding with us, and I'm quite certain we had never met before, though I know Libra's older brother Walden. We've heard the horrid rumors of course and what that awful woman has said about the two of you is just unthinkable! We of course don't believe a word of it, and know that there is nothing wrong with being a squib. My cousin Charles is a squib, and we named our middle son after him so he's a part of our family. He and his wife have a young daughter named Mafalda who is a few years younger than Harry, though we don't know yet if she's magical or not I'm sure she'd be a great friend to your two girls if they ever meet._

 _Anyway, while I am curious about how you knew to save Percy I also know that somethings have to be a secret, and I'm forever grateful that you were willing to help us. We'd love to come over for dinner, but I'm afraid there are quite a number of us, what with the twins, Percy, Ron, Ginny, and my husband and myself. You're welcome to come to the Burrow any time if that would be at all convenient._

 _Oh! I just remembered: Percy is taking Muggle Studies this year! I heard through the grapevine that David is going to be his professor! Congratulations! The twins haven't quite decided on their electives yet but I will say that they can be a bit of a handful. Hopefully they won't cause too much trouble if they enroll in your class. But if they do write straight away! I won't let those two cause trouble for a friend of the family, especially one they ought to be grateful for._

 _Anyway I sent off a box of my fudge bars for your family to enjoy as a small present. Write back soon, though do give poor Errol a rest before you send him off again, he's getting a bit old and can't fly quite as far as he used to._

 _Love, Molly Weasley_

"Jesus she even writes like a Church Lady," I muttered. "She ought to be heading christmas pageants and hosting church potlucks."

"Dobby, why don't you take Errol out to the garden where he can rest for a while," Libra called. "And give him some food and water as well. The poor thing looks half dead."

I swear to God, Errol saluted us with his wing as Dobby carried him out to the garden. It's like I had started living in a cartoon.

"Well, I actually would really like to visit the Burrow," I mused. "I mean, for obvious reasons that would be sort of hard. Maybe we should insist they come over here first and that we can feed their mongol hordes so I can explain that magical travel doesn't really work for me and getting to where ever they live in England won't take forever."

"Ottery St Catchpole," Libra said, reading it off the back of the letter. "Hmm. I believe that's somewhere in Devonshire. A bit of a trip if you have to take the train or bus."

"Yeah probably save that one for a later date," I agreed.

We wrote back explaining that we couldn't manage a trip to Devon, but would love to have the Weasley's over for a Fourth of July Barbecue. I also wrote a letter specifically to the twins, instructing them to procure as many explosives as possible and included ten galleons for their trouble. I signed it " Professor Cowboy the Honorary Marauder." I'd have to get Sirius to confirm me later.

But really, Scotland was just not ready for the kind of Fourth of July I wanted to have. Which would be traditional in that it involved gorging oneself, setting off large amounts of explosives, and singing obnoxiously patriotic tunes. I had already taught Sarah the entirety of the Battle of New Orleans and God Bless America, so I think we were ready. Harry, of course, knew all of the appropriate tunes thanks to Cub Scouts. We also invited Hagrid, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Hestia, Alexa, and on Libra's insistence, Snape. We got permission from McGonagall to have a picnic on the Hogwarts grounds (which was pretty easy when half the guest list involved Hogwarts professors) and thus we extended an invitation to Filch, who might actually be my third least favorite Hogwarts professor.

Umbitch, of course, was in a league of her own. Even Snape didn't actively torture children, it just sort of happened.

Everyone agreed to come, even Snape (much to my disappointment).

During this time, Libra and I sat Dobby down and told him the truth. Dobby, being a house elf, believed everything we told him and swore that he would fight for justice alongside us, and that he would gladly sacrifice himself for Master Harry, and then cried about what a good elf the other Dobby had been. He then swore to never tell our secret, and keep the children safe.

Inigo Snaketoya also came to an end when Harry let him go back in the woods and promised to never again bring venomous animals home. Tinkerbell the fairy just so happened to be accidentally on purpose given to Snape, who probably killed him and harvested his wings, but James forgot about that quickly enough.

It felt sort of weird to greet the Fourth in a light jacket and sweater, but then again it was only about 60F that day which to someone from Hawaii is frigid. The kids were convinced to wear shoes, though I found Sarah taking hers off whenever the opportunity presented itself. Sirius and Remus arrived early and set up some picnic tables near the Hogwarts lake, by which I mean they literally turned a couple of rocks into picnic tables. Nice stone ones too.

Dobby had gotten a couple of charcoal grills for us, and I put on my very best star spangled cooking apron and an Uncle Sam hat, along with large goofy plastic sunglasses. Harry set up a baseball diamond with Sirius' help (though Sirius was baffled that you would play a sport with "just bludgers").

The first to arrive were my fellow professors, Tonks, Hestia, and Alexa. We saw them pretty often as they all lived in Hogsmeade together in an old teachers' cottage. Tonks, to my immense delight, had turned her hair red, white, and blue. She and Sirius immediately began insulting each other as soon as they were within shouting distance, though it was more along the lines of good natured ribbing than anything mean spirited.

"You're like the ugly older brother I never wanted," Tonks told Sirius.

Sirius looked offended. "Well, I'd say that you're like the ugly little sister I never wanted, but thank goodness you're a half blood so I can just pretend you don't exist."

"What's a half blood?" Harry asked.

Tonks immediately changed the subject and got Harry to teach her how to play baseball, which suited him fine. She had apparently tried out for the position of beater on the Hufflepuff team but had never made the team due to excessive clumsiness. She had a mean batting arm though, and she managed to hit the balls that Harry tossed to her.

Snape showed up exactly on time and sat by himself at one of the tables nursing a beer that Dobby got for him. Remus and Hestia engaged him in polite conversation, but Snape mostly just sat by himself and watched everyone. Hagrid joined us shortly thereafter, and happily drank from a galleon jug of his own ale from a large barrel he'd brought to the party. Snape seemed to tolerate Hagrid's company, though admittedly I couldn't tell if that meant he liked you or not as he treated everyone that way.

I heard the Weasley's coming before I saw them. There was laughing and shouting along the path to the lake, and one very loud bang followed by a harrang as they came over the hill.

"-now don't you two lie to me, there is no way Professor Murphy sent you money and told you to buy fireworks!" Molly was saying to two individuals that had to be the twins.

"Just ask him mum!" Thing 1 said.

Thing 2 nodded. "Look, that has to be him right here. Oi, Cowboy, did you send us the money for the fireworks or not?"

"That depends, did you bring them?" I asked.

Thing 2 and Thing 1 held up two large sacks, from which I could see a large rocket or three poking.

"Excellent! Put those right over there, we'll set them off when it gets pseudo dark. Explosions are a very important part of American holidays."

"See?" Thing 1 said, hurrying out of his mother's reach. "Told you he asked us!"

Molly gave me an exasperated look as the rest of the family appeared, all carrying trays of desserts that Molly had volunteered to provide. I saw that she had indeed cooked apple pie and fudge cake, and I grinned. We were going to Americanize this lot yet.

"Good to see you again Arthur," I said, shaking the Weasley Patriarch's hand. He was much balder than before, and the hair he had left was all going grey, though wisps of red still remained.

"Glad you're doing well, thank you for inviting us," Arthur said. "I must say, I am fascinated by this idea of an American holiday. Oh! Are those muggle fireplaces? What do they burn?"

"Charcoal," I said. "They're regular old grills. I could have used propane but really, burgers made over charcoal just taste so much better."

"Arthur dear, muggle cooking isn't that different from what I do," Molly said as she bustled over. "It's not like they don't have to eat. Oh, it's so good to see you again David! You're looking very well. This is Percy, Ron, and Ginny. Oh! And the twins. Don't light those off yet, you'll make a horrid mess! Why on earth did you tell them to bring fireworks?"

"Tradition," I said seriously. "It's not a proper Forth without at least one earth shattering kaboom. Harry, Sarah, Marie, come meet the Weasleys."

Percy looked a lot like his dad, except with more hair on his head. He was a tall, gangly kid with glasses that he kept shoving up on his nose like the complete nerd he obviously was. "Thank you, Professor," Percy said seriously. "My parents told me you were the one who warned the Headmaster about...the Rat. I can't thank you enough. I look forward to your class at the start of term."

I held out my hand, and Percy shook it. Not a bad grip, if a bit hesitant. "Glad I could help Percy. Heard you made prefect. Congratulations."

"Thank you sir!" Percy beamed.

"Hello," Ron said, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. He was a bit of a twerp, and although he was taller than Harry he slouched and kept his head down so much you wouldn't notice. "I'm Ron."

"I'm Ginny," the girl said, pushing her way forward. "Is it true that you're a muggle? I don't think I've ever met one before."

"Ginevra!" Molly gasped, looking horrified.

I chuckled. "I am. I promise, we don't bite, no matter what the propaganda says. Ah, here's my kids. Harry, Sarah, and Marie. James is over there with his mother, he's tuckered out from all the excitement and taking a nap."

"Hey," Harry said, waving to the other kids and tugging a ball cap firmly down on his head. "You guys want to play baseball?"

"Harry, introduce yourself properly," I ordered.

Harry rolled his eyes and stuck out his hand. "Hey, I'm Harry. Want to play baseball?"

"Hi," Ron said, taking Harry's hand awkwardly.

Sarah looked up at Ginny and frowned. "Did you bring a broom? I don't like baseball. I want to play quidditch."

Ginny's eyes immediately lit up, and she bent down and whispered in Sarah's ear. The two girls started giggling, and Sarah whispered back. Then they both ran over to Sirius, which could only mean trouble.

"Hey Remus, make sure they don't kill themselves please?" I called.

"What's baseball?" Ron asked Harry. "Is that some sort of American game?"

"Oh yeah, it's pretty cool. It's like...um... cricket? Except I actually understand the rules. You hit a ball with a bat. Uncle Sirius says it's like quidditch but not as cool. He's right but I'm grounded from my broom for bringing a venomous snake home so I have to play baseball instead."

"That sounds excellent," Percy said. "Why don't you show us how to play," Percy said. "Fred, George, come on. You're beaters, you should be good at this."

"Hi Harry!" Thing 1 and Thing 2 said as they ran over. "What was that about beaters?"

The boys all ran off to play baseball, which seemed to mostly involve hitting the ball as hard and far as they could, then trying to see if they could aim the ball at each other when they hit it. Which was actually pretty close to how I remembered playing baseball with my brothers, except we couldn't enchant the ball to fly back to us like Percy did.

Remus came over to me after a few minutes, Sarah and Ginny following close behind him. "They want to know if they can have brooms and go flying. I figured I should ask you first."

"As long as Ginny's parents say yes and one of the adults is supervising," I said. "No flying over the lake though. And Sarah you have to fly with Ginny or on a trainer broom."

"Dad can I go flying?" Ginny asked her father, who was enthusiastically helping Dobby and I flip burgers and hotdogs.

"Hmm? Yes of course, but don't go to far," Arthur said absently, playing with the lighter I had. "Why this device is fascinating! You say it makes the flame with no magic at all? How does it work? I keep finding these on muggles but I have no idea how they work."

Remus took the girls to go get a pair of school brooms, which was about the time Aurora showed up. She and Sirius joined in the baseball game with the boys, which by this point had evolved into a semi coherent game.

Molly and Libra were sitting and talking while James snored on Libra's shoulder. He'd been up all day and missed his nap, and was making up for lost time now. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, except for Snape, who appeared to be tolerating a time. Still, he and Hagrid were talking quietly while they watched the boys' antics, which was good enough for me.

After a while the burgers were ready, and dinner was served. We had grilled corn on the cob, watermelon, potato CHIPS (not CRISPS, CHIPS, it was the Fourth of July!) and mac salad for side dishes. We had burgers with all the fixings, and hotdogs, both with homemade buns from Dobby. For dessert we had Molly's apple pie and fudge cake, along with a few gallons of ice cream. To drink we had Hagrid's ale, a few cases of Bud Light Sirius had acquired (everyone, even me, made fun of the American beer then drank it anyway), ten gallons of lemonade and several pitchers of Kool-Aide.

Everyone ate too much; the massive feast we had prepared was looking sparse. Flich showed up, got a plate of food, then left. Mrs. Norris, on the other hand, stuck around because James picked her up and carried her around for a bit, then someone conjured a bow and she put it on the cat, who was surprisingly tolerant. Maybe it was the fact that James kept feeding her bits of hamburger and hotdog, which the cat seemed to enjoy. In fact, Mrs. Norris happily sat with James for a while, until the little boy got bored and the cat slunk away, carrying a slightly burnt hotdog in her mouth.

After the food, Harry, Sarah and I sang a very off key and somewhat garbled version of the Battle of New Orleans. Molly was horrified, Remus was perplexed, Snape was Snape, and Alexa thoroughly annoyed at me. Hestia sided with Alexa, though she ruined it by giggling at our antics every other verse. Libra loved me, but was laughing hysterically throughout.

However, Tonks, Sirius, and Arthur all tried to join in, which meant that the twins, Ron and Ginny all tried to join in, and led to the whole thing falling apart. We also tried singing "This Land is Your Land," "God Bless America," and "The Star Spangled Banner."

However, in protest, Alexa, Molly, Remus and Libra started singing "God Save the Queen," "For He is an Englishman"(which I am told is called HMS Pinafore but that makes no sense), and "Rule Britannia." Admittedly, their songs came together a whole lot better than mine did, but the fact that I had convinced a bunch of Brits to sing along with me counted as some kind of victory. We capped it off with "Be Our Guest" by popular demand from Marie and Sarah, as that was still their favorite song ever.

Then, despite the fact that it was nearly 10:00pm and not dark yet, we went ahead and launched the fireworks. Everyone sat on the hillside, clustered together as Fred, George, and Sirius put on an impressive display. While the fireworks were not nearly as grand as the ones Sirius had ordered for Harry's birthday two years ago, I think I enjoyed them more.

James sat on Remus' shoulders while I put Marie up on mine. Sarah was with her new bestie Ginny, still a bit upset she'd had to get off her broom. Harry was with Ron and Percy, talking about what it would be like to go to Hogwarts. I wondered if he'd decide he wanted to be in Gryffindor since Ron was extolling its virtues. That might be for the best in the end.

And Libra sat with Molly and Aurora, chatting about getting married, having kids, and what it was like to be ostracized. It turned it Molly had always been deeply wounded by how many of her friends turned on her during the last war, and Aurora was no stranger to getting odd looks for the color of her skin. We were all a bunch of misfits, celebrating a holiday that no one in Britain actually cared about.

But for now, at least, we had peace. Even with all the explosions in the background.


	34. Chapter 34

Soon enough, Harry's Hogwarts letter arrived. It was the same as I remembered it in the books, and Libra and I quietly took it from Harry when he was done and put it in a box of keepsakes, along with his Cub Scout belt loops, the pictures of us at Disneyland, Randy the Rattler, the picture he'd drawn for Libra our first Christmas, and his adoption papers. We both knew that someday, he'd want to have it, and we both wanted to treasure it.

The month of July raced by, and we had another birthday bash for Harry. The Weasley Bunch were the only kids there, since Harry had failed to make many friends amidst the villagers. Probably not helped by the fact that his parents actively avoided the villagers, and that Harry still acted like he was barely capable of speaking English.

Hagrid, interestingly enough, showed up not with an owl for Harry's birthday, but with a color changing snake known as a polychromatic whip snake, or more commonly a rainbow snake. Harry was thrilled by this, and wore the snake around his neck hissing at it whenever he could. While Sirius had wanted to get Harry a Nimbus 2000, I had told him to save that for next year when Harry had passed his flying class. Instead, Sirius gave Harry an owl. Not a snowy owl, but rather a beautiful Pueo, or Hawaiian Short Eared Owl. Harry named the owl Wesley, and the snake Humperdinck.

After this, we took a trip down to Devon to spend a week at the Burrow. The Weasleys had a small farm with a cow, goats, and chickens, and the kids had a grand old time chasing the animals around and helping to care for them. Harry and Sarah even got to play a little quidditch (sans bludgers) with Ron, Ginny, and the twins.

This was, interestingly enough, also when they figured out that Harry was actually Harry Potter.

Harry had just woke up and come down to breakfast, and had not yet put on his ball cap for the day. Percy was the first one to notice, being the first of the Weasley children down the stairs. He started to sip at his morning tea, before his eyes fixated on Harry's forehead. Percy blinked, adjusting his glasses. "Harry, you have something…" he put a finger to his forehead.

Harry blinked, feeling at his own forehead. "Oh, yeah. That's my scar." Harry went back to eating breakfast, which was eggs, bacon, beans, and toast. Molly certainly knew how to put on a spread.

Percy blinked. "Well, you know, that looks a bit like...well, like Harry Potter's scar."

"Well, duh," Harry said, looking at Percy like he was an idiot.

"Oh, sorry, I'm sure you get compared to him all the time," Percy said, turning back to his tea.

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes, reaching for another piece of toast.

Next came Ginny, who took one look at Harry's forehead before her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Harry!" she gasped. "Your head!"

Sarah, who was staying in Ginny's room, trundled past Ginny to peer at her brother's head. "What's wrong with Harry?" she asked.

"He's...he's got the scar. Just like Harry Potter," Ginny said.

"Nope, he's just Harry," Sarah affirmed. "Our last name is Murphy, not Potter."

Harry paused, frowning at Sarah. "Did mum and dad never tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Sarah asked, frowning at Harry.

Harry grinned wickedly. "You're adopted."

"I am not!" Sarah shrieked, smacking Harry's arm.

"Harry, don't torment your sister," I said.

"Sarah, don't hit your brother," Libra warned.

"Sorry. You're not adopted Sarah."

"Hmph." Sarah sat down next to Ginny, away from Harry. "What's adopted?" she whispered very loudly to Ginny.

"It means your parents are dead and someone else became your mum and dad," Ginny explained, still eyeing Harry's scar.

"Oh. Well, obviously my mum and dad are right there," Sarah declared. "None of us are adopted."

"Too bad, 'cause Gin-Gin's certainly adopted," Thing 1 said as he slid into a seat beside Harry.

"She's a changeling, the Weasley's never have girls," Thing 2 agreed.

Sorry, but that's just what I had to end up calling them. I seriously can never tell the two apart. Hell, I have a hard time telling Ron and Percy apart from them when I'm not paying attention.

"Oh stuff it you two," Ginny snapped.

"Say, Harry, pass the-" Thing 2 cut off, and elbowed Thing 1.

"What? What?" Then Thing 1 saw Harry's forehead too.

"OOooooooo," the twins said together. "Gin-Gin, did you notice-"

"Mum the twins are being mean again!" Ginny complained.

"Boys leave your sister and poor Harry alone," Molly called from the kitchen.

The twins started winking exaggeratedly at Harry, who rolled his eyes. "Did you seriously not notice before?"

"Notice what before?" Ron asked as he sat down at the table.

"My scar," Harry explained.

"What scar?" Ron asked. Then he got a look at Harry. "Oh, bloody hell! You're Harry Potter?"

"No, he's Harry Murphy!" Sarah declared. "Who's this Harry Potter?"

"He's famous," Thing 2 said.

"Got a scar from banishing You-Know-Who," Thing 1 said.

"I'm sure Harry's scar is perfectly ordinary," Percy lectured. "Leave him alone, he's just trying to eat breakfast."

"Actually," Harry said, a manic gleam entering his eye. "The stories get it all wrong."

Dead silence around the table.

"What stories?" Sarah demanded.

"You see, it was a dark and stormy night," Harry continued. "I was a young child, but already, strong in the ways of the Force."

"The what?" Ron asked, confused.

"Shhh, it's story time," Sarah told him.

"Stuff it Ron, I want to hear this," Ginny ordered.

"Darth Riddle, the most evil of Jedi Wizards, had tracked us down to the planet Krypton, where my parents had hidden us against his evil forces."

Arthur looked up from his newspaper for the first time, frowning at Harry, who had risen out of his seat and was now walking around the table slowly. Molly was peeking in from the kitchen, trying to figure out why no one was yelling at their siblings.

"My father, James Potter, knew that we hadn't much time."

Ginny gasped and blushed bright red, while Ron stared open mouthed at Harry. Percy stared at Harry in confusion, while the Things grinned and chuckled.

"He composed a message using great and powerful techniques, passed down by the ancient Holocrons given to him by the Noble and Ancient House of Potter, Black, and Dumbledore. Within them, he delved into the most forbidden of techniques: Time Tra-"

Libra coughed loudly.

"I mean, Astral Projection. Yeah. Anyway, James Potter communed with the Force and Magic, sending a message through time and space. But, as he was meditating, Darth Riddle struck!"

"First, he sent in a BALROG! A demon of the ancient world, cloaked in flame and darkness! My father was awoken from his meditation, and drew his wand and the Power Sword! He and the Balrog clashed for an hour! The Balrog used his whip, striking James Potter repeatedly! But James was mighty in the ways of the Force, and resisted, finally piercing the Balrog's chest with his sword and blasting him apart with his wand!"

"Weakened by the battle, James sank to his knees, exhausted and bleeding. That was when he heard an ominous sound."

Harry put his hands over his mouth, and made a drawn out, raspy noise like a respirator. "HOOO-pffff. HOOO-pffff. HOOO-pffff. It was none other than Darth Riddle. Riddle raised his wand, clenched in his armored fist."

"Join me, James Potter. And together we can rule this pathetic Galaxy!"

"Never! I will never give in to the Dark Side. I am a true wizard and jedi!"

"James tried to rise to his feet, but BAM!" Harry shouted and jumped, causing several members of his audience to jerk suddenly. "Dark Riddle slew James Potter, and marched on."

"Next, he came to my mother, Lily Potter."

"Give me the child, and I shall spare you."

"But Lily ignited her lightsaber, and with a wordless cry, leapt at the Dark Lord."

"They struck at each other for hours, until the Dark Lord raised his fist, and began to choke the life out of Lily Potter."

"Surrender! Kneel before me, and I shall spare you."

"In response, Lily used her wand to fire a mighty spell at the evil wizard! But alas, she was already too weakened. The spell slashed harmlessly against the Dark Lord's armor, and Lily slumped to the ground, dead."

"And so, the Dark Lord pressed on. I sat there, meditating, when he entered."

"At last, I have found you. Now I shall erase the Potter line once and for all, and become immortal! The stars themselves will bend before my will, and I shall rule the galaxy for all time!"

"I rose to my feet, assuming a fighting stance." Harry rose up on the balls of his feet, then slowly lifted one leg and his arms above his head, going into crane stance. "You shall never defeat me, Darth Riddle, for I am a warrior of the light!"

"The Dark lord raised his wand, and cast his most powerful spell. I reached deep within myself, calling upon the love of my fallen parents. Then, I reached out with my chi, and headbutted the spell. I was flung back, injured, but the spell rebounded, striking the Dark Lord. It banished him as a spirit, and he fled in terror. However, I was forever marked, and I could only weep over the bodies of my beloved parents."

"Are you serious?" Ron said as Harry sat back down. "You know, you could have just said 'don't call me Harry Potter it's annoying' and left it at that."

Sarah clapped and giggled, and Marie quickly did as her big sister. Ginny, however, was staring wide eyed at Harry. "You really battled a Dark Lord? It's just like in the Boy-Who-Lived books! I knew it! Dad I knew it they are real! Harry Potter is a hero! Did you fight lots of Dark Lords in Hawaii? Were you really trained by Gilderoy Lockhart and Merlin himself?"

"Don't be dense Ginny," Percy said disapprovingly. "That's not what happened at all. Obviously, Harry just has the same name and a similar scar. He would have been barely a year old! He wouldn't have remembered anything, and balrogs aren't even a real magical creature. He made the whole thing up."

"Yeah, pretty much," Harry agreed casually. "I mostly just remember a flash of green light and pain. Dad says that was the killing curse or whatever. But I like my version better."

"Oh my God you're him!" Ginny groaned. Then she looked down and shrieked. "Oh my God Harry Potter has seen me in my jammies!" Then she fled upstairs.

"Ginny, he's not Harry Potter!" Ron yelled. "He's just Harry Murphy! We went swimming together in the pond yesterday and you just had on your bathing suit!" Ron turned back to Harry shaking his head. "Honestly I don't know what's gotten into her."

"Gin-Gin's a big fan, Harry," Thing 1 said. He produced a quill and parchment from somewhere. "Will you give us your autograph?"

"We'll bribe her with it. She'll do our chores for a month," Thing 2 chortled.

"He's not Harry Potter!" Percy protested. He looked at Harry over the top of his glasses. "You're not Harry Potter, right?"

"Eehhh, who dis Pottah boy you be talkin' bout haoli boy?" Harry said, folding his arms across his chest. "Dat Pottah boy lolo; he tell all kine crazy story. Think he some big kahuna or somethin'"

"He gets this from you you know," Libra said to me as she spread jam on some toast for James.

"What, me? When have I ever been overly dramatic or deliberately misled people for comedic effect?" I protested.

"Hey, Harry, you're not really Harry Potter, right?" Ron asked, now somewhat nervous.

"Harry Potter," Harry observed, stroking an imaginary beard. "Now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."

"Harry, they've never seen Star Wars," Libra informed him. "They're not going to think this is funny at all."

"I think it's funny," Harry said. "I mean it's so obvious. How many 11 year old wizards with lightning bolt scars can there be?"

"Oh Merlin," Ron groaned, slumping in his seat. "You are Harry Potter."

"Nah, not if you're talking about that kid in those dumb books. I tried to read one once. They're dumb. I'm just reglar Harry," Harry told Ron. "And Sarah, I am adopted."

"No you're not!" Sarah protested. "You're my big brother Harry! Your mum and dad are the same as mine?"

"Yes, but I also have another mum and dad who are dead," Harry explained. "I'm still your brother though."

"Daddy Harry's lying!" Sarah said, tears coming into her eyes.

I stood up and walked over, picking Sarah up so she could sniffle on my shoulder. "Harry, come on, let's go have a talk with your sister."

After one heartfelt conversation where Sarah, Harry, and Libra all cried (and me, but don't tell anyone) we went back to the table. Ginny was now dressed in her very best dress, and blushed furiously whenever she looked at Harry, which was frequently. Percy looked dazed, and the twins immediately began to demand if Harry really had a vault full of gold and treasure.

"I don't know, my parents look after all the money," Harry said in exasperation after he finally got annoyed with the heckling. "I've never even been to Gringotts."

"Speaking of which, we're actually planning on going there Saturday on our way back to Hogsmeade," I said. "Mr. Weasley has agreed to give us a ride in his car so we can all go shopping. We've got to get your school supplies."

"Do I really have to use a quill?" Harry demanded. "Pencils and pens are so much better."

"Are we really going to ignore this?" Percy demanded. "We just found out that Harry Potter is right here! He's been here all along."

"Oh my God!" Harry said suddenly, standing up and putting his hands over his heart. "It's you! It's really you!" Harry grabbed the parchment from Fred and George and ran over to Percy. "It's you! You're really him!"

"I...what?" Percy said, clearly confused.

"You're Percy Weasley! You're the one who kept Peter Pettigrew as a rat for all those years and saved Sirius Black! Can I have your autograph?" Harry smiled innocently as he held up the parchment and quill.

The twins fell out of their seats laughing, and Arthur developed a sudden coughing fit. Molly tisked disapprovingly, while Ron giggled and Ginny tried to crawl under the table and die of embarrassment.

"I…" Percy blinked, then grabbed the quill and signed the paper quickly. "I didn't really do anything you know," he said testily as he handed the parchment back to Harry. "I thought he was just a rat."

"And I thought I was just a kid whose parents died in a car crash, and all I actually did was have my parents murdered. Personally, I think you got a pretty sweet deal." Then Harry walked back to Ron, and handed him the parchment. "There, now you have the autograph of a real wizarding hero."

Ron nodded seriously. "I shall treasure it always, and keep it safe in the drawer with my moldy socks I never wear." Ron leaned over conspiratorially towards Harry. "Did you know, he's going to be a Hogwarts prefect?"

"No!" Harry gasped, putting his hands on his cheeks. "I heard he was prophesied to be the Head Boy!"

Everyone else got over Harry being famous pretty quickly, though Ginny did act nervous and flighty around Harry for a few days. She seemed to get over it after Sarah told her about the time Harry let her paint his nails, much to the Weasley brothers amusement and Harry's eternal shame.

The time at the Burrow as a lot of fun, and I got to know Arthur and Molly fairly well. While Molly could still be irritating at times, she was so loving and helpful to everyone it was hard to actually dislike her. Molly loved to help with James or Marie, commenting on how she missed having little ones herself, and telling funny stories about her kids. She was always willing to listen to your stories, and was very comforting and understanding with Libra. Molly had lost both her parents and brothers in the last war, and she was a good shoulder for Libra to cry on. I don't know that Libra had ever really had a motherly figure in her life like Molly, though she was more of a big sister.

Arthur was just as much of a space cadet as I thought he would be, though he was also a lot more intelligent. He'd puzzled out how a number of muggle devices worked, having assembled his own mechanical alarm clock. He'd also worked a lot on his Ford Anglia. He's not only enchanted it to fly, but he'd also done a lot of body work and fixed the motor using only manuals on engines he'd read. He didn't understand electronic circuits at all, but he could really intuite how mechanisms came together and worked.

Actually, his ability to combine magic and technology was astounding. He still didn't really get how electricity worked (and to be fair, I wasn't much help as I was no electrical engineer) but could get a lot of electrical devices to run through enchantment. He tried to explain to me how he could operate their motors and such with magic, but honestly I don't understand motors or magic so I mostly just nodded.

I also realized that a lot of his questions about muggles were his idea of a joke. He damn well knew what a rubber duck was for, but he could ask the question with a straight face and most wizards would honestly believe that it had some deeper meaning. He also had sussed out how lighters worked, but the question behind it for him was more why.

I tried to explain friction and heat to him. "Well, the clicker things rubs up against the metal and that friction makes a spark, which-"

"Yes, yes, I know all that, but why does this friction make heat?" Arthur demanded. "How does that make a spark? I believe it's making some sort of electricity but I can't puzzle out why this makes electricity and batteries also make electricity when batteries don't rub anything together at all."

I told him I had no idea, and that frankly most muggles didn't have any more idea how their stuff worked than most wizards did on why waving your wand in a certain way and saying specific words resulted in a spell happening.

"Fascinating," Arthur mused. "You know, I've never really tried to puzzle out why magic works, I mostly just accepted that it does because I understand it. And yet, with muggle devices I don't understand how they work, and I've wanted to puzzle out the why. It seems muggles just accept that their devices work because they understand them, but would be unable to accept that magic works because they don't understand that."

"Um, yeah. That sounds about right," I agreed.

After our week together, we all crammed into the suspiciously spacious car (Harry made a few clown jokes that went over everyone's head) and drove off to London to visit Diagon Alley.

The Leaky Cauldron was much as I remembered it, though this time various patrons greeted the Weasleys as we made our way through. A few even called out to Libra and I, recognizing us from Hogsmeade. I was starting to realize that the magical community was really like a small town, in that everyone knew practically everyone else. That would make things interesting in future years, as I started to recognize more and more of my pupils and their families.

The kids went wild in Diagon Alley, with my two oldest making a beeline for the brooms along with the two youngest Weasleys. Marie on the other hand ran right to the ice cream shop and wanted to try some. We told her we would buy ice cream later if she was good, which she more or less accepted. James was fascinated by the magical creatures, and kept wanting to pet some of the more dangerous ones. I guess Hagrid had found his new apprentice.

Sadly buying school supplies isn't nearly as much fun as buying toys, sweets, and brooms, and we made our way to Gringotts first. Harry was stoked to get to see his vault, though I cautioned him against telling the Weasleys much about it.

"They don't have much money, and people like that are often sensitive about such things," I told him quietly. "Your mother and I had Dobby leave them some things as a thank you present for our stay, because they're much too proud to accept cash even though our being there was probably a strain."

"What did you leave them?" Harry asked.

"Some new clothes for Ron and Ginny that we passed off as things you and Sarah didn't need anymore, though if they squint they can see through the lie well enough, and some bags of groceries and potion supplies. We can pass that off as a "thank you" but they wouldn't accept it if I just gave them 100 galleons for the vacation even if that's frankly cheap for a week long vacation for six."

"Huh. OK. But I still get to see my vault right?"

Harry and Sarah did indeed get to see the vault when their mother took them down. I avoided the cart ride entirely and stayed with Marie, who had my delicate stomach, and James, who I didn't trust to not try jumping off the cart to find a dragon. While he wasn't cranky or combative like most two year olds, James had no sense of self preservation and was fearless, which could be really scary. So instead, we went to the bookstore and picked out the books Harry would need, along with a few picture books for the two of them too read at home.

Once Harry was out, I took him over to get his school robes while Libra took the younger ones to the magic toy store. Their collection of playthings was still a bit sparse after the move, and we'd promised to get them each something fun. I told Harry if he held out he might get his own broom and quidditch gear for Christmas, which he enthusiastically agreed to.

I sat in the front while Harry got measured, pulling out a book on muggle studies I'd gotten at Flourish and Blotts and leaning back to read.

"Hello," I heard Harry say. "School for you too?"

"Yes, my father is next door getting my books while my mother is looking at wands," a bored nasally voice answered. I sat up. No way.

"Perhaps I shall bully father into getting me a racing broom later. First years aren't supposed to have one, but I suspect I can smuggle one in without too much trouble. My father's on the Board of Governors you know; he practically runs the school now that the old fool Dumbledore is half dead. What about you? Your family is the proper kind of wizard, are they not?"

I tensed, wondering what Harry was going to do. This had to be Draco Malfoy, and-

"Ho brah, me family we da kine. You know, got da mana and make dem haoli boys all run scared yeah? Shoots brah, you look like some lolo haoli wit shishi in you veins yeah?"

I had to work hard not to pee myself, I was laughing so hard. I managed to do it quietly though, because I had to hear what happened next.

"Oh. You're foreign, aren't you? You're not planning on going to Hogwarts, are you? I thought they only let real British wizards in."

"Eh brah I got da letter same as you. Ain't no trouble have some kahuna who got haoli parents yeah? We all da kine yeah? Live aloha and talk story together, no trouble brah."

"Oh Merlin. I do hope you're at least not going to be in Slytherin. You belong in Hufflepuff with the rest of the leftovers."

"You like beef wit me brah? We step outside settle this real good. You give me stink eye cause you not like dem 'puffs? De snakes brah, I maybe talk small time to them but I no want be lolo sith or minion."

"Yes. Quite. Charming really. Ah, there's my father now. Goodbye."

"Don' let de door smack you in de ass on de way out brah," Harry called.

A blond kid with a face that looked like he'd just sucked a lemon came out and walked over to a man with long blonde hair in rather fancy robes with a silver headed cane. I narrowed my eyes. The Malfoys. Where were they keeping that diary? Still, now wasn't the time. The two left together, and a short time later Harry walked out and I paid Madam Malkin for his set of robes.

"Harry, do you know who that was?" I asked him quietly as we walked outside.

"Some dumbass haoli boy who thinks he's too big for his own shorts," Harry said.

"That," I told him, "was Draco Malfoy. Son of Lucius Malfoy. Keeper of the Diary of Tom Riddle, and right hand man of Tom."

Harry's eyes went wide, and I nodded.

"Don't antagonize him. I don't recommend you try to cozy up to him either, but I also suggest that you don't make him into your enemy. In the books, the Malfoy's ended up betraying Tom at the last moment, and were instrumental in his downfall. They're slimy survivalists who would have no problem murdering someone if it gave them an advantage, but they're also rich and powerful."

"Well I guess I look kind of dumb now," Harry muttered.

"What? Are you kidding? That was hilarious. If anything just keep doing that whenever he tries to talk to you. He'll underestimate you and you can take him down if you need to."

"Man, then he'd go all crazy when he realizes I can almost speak like he does," Harry said, grinning. "Though I don't like how so many people seem to act like it matters if you have magic or not. Haoli kids were just as smart as I was, some of them smarter and faster too. I don't get why we have to keep this all a secret."

"Because people are scared, selfish, flawed beings, and love to hate anyone who isn't a part of their group, whatever they think that is. Come on, let's get you your wand. Your mother should meet us there."

Libra looked a bit worn out when we got to Ollivanders, but I could tell that was mostly because the shop represented everything she had once dreamed of but had never gotten. I had thought initially she would want to avoid it, but instead she took Harry's hand in hers (something he normally would have avoided like the plague but accepted for now because he saw how hard this was for her) and led him inside.

"Mr. Ollivander," Libra said quietly to the shopkeeper. "This is my son, Harry. He's starting his first year at Hogwarts, and needs a wand."

The old man who closely resembled Doc Brown looked up from his wood carving and smiled at Libra. "Ah, Young Miss Macnair. I wondered if I would ever see one of your children. Hmm, not you of course, but it seems you've done quite well for yourself. A lovely little family. Too bad about your brother. Dragon wands are ever so temperamental, and I did hope they would be a good match. Alas, they both never learned to control their power."

Then Ollivander looked down at Harry. "Ah. Young Harry Potter. Not quite what I expected, hmm. Marked by Darkness and given a great destiny, but something else is within you. I suspect I have Miss Macnair and…"

Ollivander blinked, narrowing his eyes at me. "Who and what are you?"

"David Murphy," I said, holding out my hand. "Harry's father."

Mr. Ollivander looked at my hand, then grabbed it and began to examine it. "Hmmm, hmmm. Interesting. Very interesting." He suddenly slapped a wand into my hand, and I jerked back, still holding it. I gazed at the wand in astonishment, but nothing happened. Half a moment later, Ollivander had leaned over the counter and snatched the wand back. He started muttering to it and stroking it gently. "No, not at all. I'm very sorry my dear, I didn't realize. Hmm, no, not what I thought at all."

"What the hell are you doing?" I demanded, rubbing my hand. "What was that for?"

"Haven't seen one like you before," Ollivander observed. He snapped his fingers and an array of measuring tapes and odd instruments flew towards Harry and began to crawl all over him. "But, not here for you, that much is obvious. I think you actually hurt her."

"Hurt who?" I asked, completely confused.

Ollivander gestured to the wand on his desk. "Why, the wand of course. Hmm, but let's see. What wand for young Harry."

I was expecting this to take a while before Ollivander gave Harry the Holly and Phoenix wand, but instead, it didn't take long at all. Ollivander went through about half a dozen wands, before selecting one that shot out a sparkling rainbow for Harry.

"Ah, yes. A phoenix feather wand. Symbol of rebirth, much like the rebirth I suspect you've had."

"And made of Holly," I mused.

Ollivander jerked back, frowning at me. "What? No. Applewood. The boy is clearly gifted in communicating with others, especially other magical beings. I sense the blessings of serpents, and of house elves upon him. Harry will do great things, but he will not do them alone. You, my odd friend, don't know much about wand wood, do you?"

"I...I...er, I guess?" I was completely blown away. A new wand? What did that mean?


	35. Chapter 35

After the wand shop, we met up with the Weasley's again and treated them to lunch and ice cream. Harry showed of his new wand, but I was quiet and withdrawn throughout the meal. Libra nudged me and we excused ourselves for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Libra asked.

"Harry's wand. It's the wrong one," I told her. "He was supposed to get Tom's brother wand. That isn't it."

Libra was quiet for a moment. "They say the wand chooses the wizard. Harry isn't the same wizard you read about, David. Have faith, this will work out in the end."

I nodded, and we went back to lunch.

After lunch, we parted ways with the Weasleys. Then we went to pick up Padfoot at long last. Harry was delighted to see his girl again, and the poor dog was leaping up and down in excitement. She had passed her quarantine inspection with flying colors, and was now officially an English Mutt. We sang the song on the way to the bus station with the appropriate substitutions.

We spent another three days with Sirius, who was becoming frantic with wedding nerves. He and Aurora were to be married in four months during the Christmas Holidays.

"What if she changes her mind?" Sirius said, pacing back and forth. "What if she's just after my money and poisons me like that Zabini woman?"

"Sirius, how much money do you even have?" I asked, taking away the bottle of whiskey and handing it to Sissy, who quickly left.

"About 400,000 gallons, I'm the fourth richest man in Britain," Sirius answered, running his hands through his hair.

I blinked. "Four hundred…? Sirius, that's not even enough to get you into the top 100 richest Britons. That's only around 2 million pounds."

Sirius stopped his pacing. "What? No, I'm certain. The only people richer than me are Lucius Malfoy, Gilderoy Lockhart, and Gertrude Smith."

"Sirius, wealthy muggles have billions of pounds. That would be hundreds of millions of galleons, at least. Hell, the richest ones might even be worth a billion galleons."

"But...but there isn't that much money in the whole world," Sirius said. "Why would you even need that much? I mean, I'm so rich I don't even have a job. What would you even do that could get you that rich? Nicolas Flamel is the wealthiest man in the world and he's estimated to be worth only about one million galleons."

"Richest wizard maybe, but you're all paupers compared to the wealthy muggles," I told him, patting him on the back. "Trust me, if Aurora was just after your money, she'd marry a rich muggle lawyer or oil tycoon."

Sirius was stunned by this, but when he asked Libra after she'd finished putting the kids to bed, she confirmed it. "But Sirius, wizards just don't need that much money. Aside for a few luxuries and day to day necessities like food and spell or potions ingredients, what do you even spend your money on?"

"I...I don't know," Sirius admitted. "Sissy's in charge of all that."

"So calm down. She already said yes to you once, and she's not one to care about money, man. She likes you because she thinks your funny for some reason, and I guess because she might find you handsome if she squints," I told him.

"Oh." Sirius considered this. "But what if I don't want to get married? I mean, Sissy did sort of bully me into it."

"Because you were dragging your feet. Do you want a family?" I asked.

"Well, I mean, I don't know. What kind of a father would I be?"

"You do fine with Harry and the others. You'll be a wonderful father and husband," Libra told Sirius, patting his shoulder. "I had horrid parents as well. I was abandoned and left to die, and my brother would kill me at the drop of a hat. Do you think I'm an awful mother?"

Sirius turned bright red. "Well, I didn't say that. I mean, you're a fantastic mum for Harry and all your kids are great and-"

"Then you'll do just fine as well," Libra said. "Relax. Besides, Harry really wants a little cousin to play with, and are you really going to disappoint him?"

And then it was two weeks until school started. We took the train back to Hogsmeade, and I buckled down to getting my curriculum completely prepared. I got the supplies and books in at last, and decorated my classroom in the exact same way a regular high school (or British equivalent) classroom would be. I put up the motivational posters, pictures of star athletes and computers, some pictures of the space shuttle, all the regular stuff. It was a bit weird to have house elves help me put things up, but hey, what can you do.

I also ordered several boxes of notebook paper and pencils and pens. The kids were going to have to learn how to use muggle stuff, whether they wanted to or not. I got Arthur to help me enchant a projector so that it worked exactly like a regular one would, though obviously it ran on magic instead of electricity. I got an old record player and several boxes of modern records (well, semi modern. The newest stuff was only on cassette tape really).

The real coup though was when Arthur figured out how to get an old movie projector working. We set it up in a different, larger classroom that could seat a few hundred pupils, and managed to get it to show some old 35mm movies. Arthur was mystified by Star Wars and completely didn't get it, claiming it was just magic in an odd local and that what they were doing was all wrong. However, he adored _The Sting_ and _From Russia with Love_.

"I think we'll have to have some Hogwarts movie nights," I declared. "Maybe show some Disney movies and stuff. See what the students think of it."

I also got assigned a number of extra duties. I was in charge of Muggle Art and Music, and I also got McGonagall to approve a Muggle Gaming Club. I figured I could include movies in the art category, but getting students to play some board and card games would be fun as well. I even got in two sets of Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition and a Battletech Starter Set. This was in addition to the twice weekly night patrols I was assigned, and some other small duties like overseeing detentions.

All in all, I was set to be a very busy man when term began.

On September 1st, Libra and Sirius took Harry to the train. I stayed behind, mostly because I couldn't do magical transportation. Normally professors were assigned as train monitors, especially first year professors, but the Headmistress agreed that due to my "condition" it was unreasonable to ask me to take a 10 hour train ride only to turn around and ride the same train back the next morning. Libra just floo'd along with Sirius and the kids. Apparently, squibs could do this, though my understanding was ordinarily muggles could not.

The final day was one of frenetic preparations. We had one last staff meeting that morning before Tonks and Alexa both apparated away to ride the train with the students. Tonks asked why I wasn't coming, and I gave the excuse that the Headmistress felt it would be improper for a parent to ride the train with their student. She seemed to accept this, though she did give me an odd look when she did so.

I made sure everything in my classroom was ready, and then sort of sat around as others prepared for the Welcoming Feast. I couldn't help with magic, and Filch told me to get out of the way when I tried to help him, so I just meandered about the castle. It was dusk by the time the train got in, but I put on my really silly looking formal robes and cap, and sat at the Head Table along with everyone else. Libra sat next to me, having helped Madam Pomfrey get all the medical supplies ready.

"Apparently the first years always manage to hurt themselves using magic in the first week," Libra informed me. "I just hope Harry is smarter than that."

"Well if him putting venomous snakes in his jacket is anything to go by: No."

Later, I found out from Harry that he had sat with Ron on the train, much like he had done originally. However, Hermione never came by. Apparently, Neville hadn't lost a toad. In fact, I would later learn he had an owl, not a toad, which was sort of odd. Actually, there were a lot of odd things about Neville Longbottom, but I'll talk about those later.

The older students arrived in the Great Hall first, and I waved to Percy and the twins when they sat down at the Gryffindor table. I looked around, trying to figure out some of the other students I should know, like Oliver Wood, Cedric Diggory, and Marcus Flint. Actually, there were so many students I could hardly recognize anyone, though the Weasley's were easy to pick out with their ginger hair. There were 983 students at Hogwarts at the start of the 1992-1993 school year, which was a bit on the low end from what I've been told.

Next the first years came in, all wide eyed and staring around opened mouthed, even Harry. I tried to figure out who was who, but there were 100 odd kids all in lines. I couldn't even see Harry or Ron, who I actually did know.

Then, the Hat came out. The Sorting Hat's song was odd, but I couldn't remember if it was the same or not. I decided that didn't matter. The sorting began, and my, oh my, was I ever certain that even if the song had been the same, I had been wrong about a lot.

The first few students went about where I had expected them to. I remembered Abbott, Hannah, and Bones, Susan, had both been in Hufflepuff, so that was right. But Brown, Lavender, went to Hufflepuff. That was wrong. She had dated Ron, and been in Gryffindor.

I clapped politely, but wondered what was going on. Had I done that?

Then came Granger, Hermione. She went to Ravenclaw. She didn't look like Emma Watson in the least. She had really pronounced buck teeth, frizzy hair that almost hid her face, and wide eyes that were trying to look everywhere at once. Still, she seemed pleased, and happily ran over to join her table. I couldn't help but wonder if her being away from Ron and Harry was going to be a problem.

Justin Finch-Fletchley went to Gryffindor. The Patil sisters were both in Ravenclaw. There might have been other changes, but I wasn't sure. Some like Neville and Draco went where I thought they should, but I was increasingly certain my future knowledge had run its course.

"Potter, Harry," McGonagall called.

"You forgot something!" Harry shouted into the stunned silence.

McGonagall frowned as the whispers started, though when she cleared her throat they stopped.

"You forgot something, Professor ma'am," Harry called again.

That brought nervous laughs from the kids.

McGonagall sighed heavily. "I've already done the M's, young man. But very well. Harry Potter-Murphy."

"Thanks. Hi mum, hi dad!" Harry said, waving jovially at us.

We waved back, smiling encouragingly.

Harry sat down, and the Hat flopped onto his head. It sat there for about 10 seconds, before the Hat cried, "Hufflepuff!"

"Yes!" Harry cheered. He tossed the hat like a frisbee to McGonagall, who caught it and glared at Harry, but he was already running over to the Hufflepuff table which was cheering wildly. He sat down and started talking to the other students around him, though he put his formal cap on and shoved it over his scar.

I held out my hand to Remus, who grunted and dropped a galleon into it. "Never bet against a parent," he muttered.

"Don't feel too bad, Sirius owes me ten," I told him.

Ron joined his brothers in Gryffindor, and he seemed very pleased with this, even if he and Harry were split up. I hoped they would still be friends. Ron seemed like a good kid.

Then the Sorting was over. I noticed that there was a fairly even distribution of kids in each house. Twenty seven in Gryffindor, twenty nine in Hufflepuff, twenty six in Slytherin, and twenty seven in Ravenclaw. Harry's year was actually a fairly small one at 109. Actually, the year before his was also on the small side, as was the year after, though for the next decade or so after that Hogwarts had a bit of a swell. This only made sense, as there had been a postwar baby boom.

Dumbledore stood, and the students quieted.

"Welcome to the 992nd year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore said. "I trust that this year will bring us all knowledge, and joy. Alas, I fear this is my last year with you all. At the end of term, I shall retire after being Headmaster of this fine institution after twenty four wonderful years."

This brought polite applause and more than a few students wiped away tears, clearly fond of the old man. However, I also noticed a few triumphant grins. Especially from Draco. Though admittedly, more Slytherins looked sad than pleased.

"However, your future education is in the capable hands of our Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall."

There was wild applause from the Gryffindors, and the other houses were varying degrees of enthusiastic, though the Ravenclaws seemed the second most delighted at this announcement. Apparently, they respected a good teacher. I could only hope one day I would earn their esteem as well.

Dumbledore went on to list the various rules and regulations, but I noticed as he talked, his voice got weaker, and his hands began to tremble. He wasn't doing well at all, and many of the students looked concerned. However, he finished with a flourish, and everyone was delighted to have the feast appear. Libra and I both dug in with relish, putting heaps of food on our plates.

Once the Feast was over, Harry ran over to the head table.

"I did it! I got into Hufflepuff!" Harry cheered. He gave Libra and I a quick hug, then ran off. "Tell James I'll think about him tonight, and tell Sarah I'll pass my broom class! And tell Marie I'll miss her too!"

Harry left with the rest of the Hufflepuffs, heading down to the kitchen. As a professor, I was told the location of all the houses, as well as how to get in. However, I usually needed a house elf's help to get into the Hufflepuff dorms, as I didn't have wand to tap out the code with.

Libra and I walked home together with Tonks. Hestia and Alexa had night patrol together, and had to stay behind.

"Well, I have to say I'm happy Harry ended up in my house," Tonks said as we walked back to the village. "And not just because Sirius owes me 20 galleons now."

"I'm pretty happy too," I said. "I've always thought loyalty and hard work were more important than bravery or wisdom."

"What about cunning and ambition?" Tonks teased.

"What ABOUT Slytherin?" I countered.

Tonks laughed. "Oh, I don't know, I've known a few that were alright in my time. I even sort of liked Snape as a professor. Only had him for NEWT and OWL classes, and while he's strict, he does know what he's talking about."

"You know you're going to have to teach Slytherin's the same as any other class, David," Libra said.

"Not really actually. They make up only about 10% of my students. Ravenclaw is the most with about 35%, with Hufflepuff and Gryffindor each about even."

"Yeah not surprised," Tonks agreed. "Really though Slytherins could use the class the most. They've got practically no muggleborns and not as many half bloods. Actually, my mum and dad met in that class. My mum was just there for the easy O, but she and dad hit it off. And she was Slytherin, you know."

"Huh. Always figured the Black who married a muggleborn would have been in Ravenclaw or something," I mused.

"Nah. She didn't get really rebellious until after Sirius got sorted. Still, I've always thought she was a 'Puff at heart. She's too kind and loyal for the snakes. Well, there's my place, goodnight. See you in the morning."

The kids were all in bed when we got back, tucked in by Dobby. Most of our nights wouldn't be nearly this late, but I would miss getting to tuck them in each day. We still looked in on them, then thanked Dobby who had waited up for us. Really, having the elf around was a Godsend. He would be able to allow Libra and I to work without wondering what was going on with the kids.

The next morning came bright and early. Libra and I were both at the castle not long after dawn. Normally Libra wouldn't need to start so early, but the first few weeks a lot of kids got homesick, especially the first years. We ate breakfast with the other professors, and Sprout came over to sit with us.

"Well, I must say, your young Harry is quite the character," she chuckled. "He told his roommates this outlandish tale about how he got his scar. Something about fighting beside the demi-god Maui. He had the prefects roaring with laughter by the time they sorted the whole thing out."

"We're glad he's in your house," Libra said. "Remus is a dear friend, but we've always felt the badger den was where our son belonged. He has plenty of courage, but what he needs is good friends and a good work ethic."

Sprout beamed and thanked us, with lots of assurances that Harry would be well cared for in her house. Harry would be spending Sundays with us, but would sleep in the dorms the rest of the time. We all agreed he needed to get to know his housemates, and save for the few children who also had family in Hogsmeade, that's what everyone did.

Harry waved to us at breakfast, but stayed with his friends at the table. He and the other first year boys seemed to be getting along will, talking and laughing despite the early hour. Then Libra and I parted ways, she to patrol the halls and keep an eye out for homesick firsties, I to my first class.

As an elective, Muggle Studies was taught three times a week for my lower years, and twice a week for my NEWT level students. However, my third and fourth year classes were large enough to split into two blocks. So, I only had a grand total of 15 classes to teach for the entire week. NEWT level classes were two hour blocks, but the others were only an hour. That meant that throughout the day I had a lot of extra time, though most of it was spent patrolling hallways, and I had extra evening duties to make up for my light mornings.

My first class was a 4th year class at 9:00, but students started filtering in early. I didn't know any of the students from prior, which was probably for the best. Most of the early arrivals were Hufflepuffs, who had a morning free period on Wednesdays. They came into class in small groups, and I stood at the door to shake their hands as they came in and introduce myself. Most of the students found this a bit odd, but they had obviously never taken any professional development classes on establishing student rapport. A positive greeting at the beginning of the day boosts student engagement and success.

As they came in, I directed students to read the board and get to work on their first assignment. I saw a few groans at the thought that we were beginning work on the first day, but then the students paused. I had brought in an actual white board and some dry erase markers, and had Libra draw a caricature of myself. The drawing had a little cartoon speech bubble telling students to pick up a spiral bound notebook and pens and pencils from the back, and that no quills or parchment was to be used.

"How are we supposed to write with these?" one of the students asked me, holding up a standard ballpoint pen in confusion.

"Well, that's what we're going to learn. See if you can figure it out."

"Oh. Hey, Becky, your mum's a muggle, how do you use one of these?"

The last group of students to arrive were the Gryffindors, who had charms right before this which was three floors up on the opposite side of the castle. I shook their hands and then stepped inside, where everyone had mostly figured out how to use ballpoint pens. Some of them were fingering the paper, wondering if it was thick enough to write on. I hit a bell I had on my desk, and everyone quieted and turned to me.

"Good morning. My name is Professor Murphy. As you were told last night and can probably tell by how I'm talking, I'm a Yankee. And yes, before you ask, I am Harry Potter-Murphy's father. No, I won't get you his autograph. You are welcome to ask him, but don't be surprised if you only get confused."

That brought giggles, and two of the Ravenclaws raised their hands. "I also will not be answering any questions not related to Muggle Studies." Both hands went down.

I walked over to the whiteboard and pulled down on on the projector screen, which I had taped some paper to earlier. "Here is your first assignment. You must work alone; no talking. You have twenty minutes to answer all the questions. All answers must be something a muggle could give. If you get stuck, skip the question. After you are finished, we shall share the answers. Begin."

There was a rustle of paper and the sound of breaking pencil lead as students who had never before used one pressed too hard.

"Pencil sharpener is in the back. Oh, and I forgot to mention. In this classroom, no magic. Keep your wands put away; you don't need them, and I want you to try solving problems without them."

There was some grumbling at this, but the students all managed to start answering the questions.

To any muggle student, they would have been pathetically easy, as this was obviously an icebreaker.

What is your favorite singer or band?

Name your favorite actor or actress.

Which movie is your favorite?

Which restaurant do you like to eat at?

What do you and your friends do on a rainy day?

Where was your favorite holiday? (Libra had told me to put holiday instead of vacation)

Coke or Pepsi?

Who would win in a fight: Superman or The Hulk?

What is your favorite sports club? (again, Libra had told me club over team)

What kind of car would you like to drive?

While a regular class of 14 and 15 year olds would have banged out these answers in a heartbeat, most of my students really struggled. I picked out the muggleborns and halfbloods here for an easy grade: They finished in less than five minutes and started looking around bored. The purebloods were clearly confused by the questions, and I had to tell several of them to try their best.

When time was up, I rang the bell. "Alright, put your pens and pencils away: do not change or modify your answers. They won't be right or wrong. I'll share mine first, then we'll go around and everyone will share theirs."

"My favorite band is Queen, and as a bonus, my favorite song of theirs is Princes of the Universe." One or two students smiled and nodded, most just looked lost.

"My favorite actor is John 'The Duke' Wayne, especially in El Dorado. Though if I had to pick a British actor it would of course be Sean Connery in From Russia with Love."

"Bond, Jamesh Bond," one of the early finishers quipped. Much of the class looked at him oddly, though I smiled and laughed appreciatively.

"Two points to Gryffindor, Mr. Ready, very good. My favorite movie is of course, the Princess Bride. We'll actually be watching that in Art club, so join us Friday evening to sign up. My favorite restaurant is In-N-Out Burger. If you haven't heard of it, that's because it's an American chain from California."

"On a rainy day I love to sit indoors and read a book with my wife."

"Yes!" one of the Ravenclaws said, looking very excited that they had at the very least, gotten one question right.

"My favorite Holiday was this summer when I took my family to the Most Magical Place on Earth."

"I thought you said no answers a muggle couldn't give!" one of the Slytherin girls said, looking very upset.

"He means Disneyland, Yvonne," one of the Ravenclaw girls corrected.

"Well if it's the most magical place on Earth how come muggles can go there?" Yvonne protested.

"It's a theme park with the slogan that it's the most magical place on Earth," I said. "Two points from Slytherin and two points from Ravenclaw: don't interrupt when it's someone else's turn to talk. Personally, I don't really like Coke or Pepsi, but I am fond of A&W Root Beer."

"Obviously, Superman would destroy the Hulk in any fight, fair or no."

"Booo!" someone called from the back. "DC fanboy!"

"Two points from Marvel," I deadpanned, which caused laughter from the heckler and the rest of the students to look very confused.

"I have no strong feelings about sports, but I've always liked watching the Bulls play basketball. Birmingham FC is the only club I know anything about, but again, no strong feelings. And, if I got to pick any car to drive, I would pick a DeLorean like Doc Brown had in Back to the Future."

"Now, why don't we start with Mr. Ready, and go around the room."

Most of the students really struggled to answer any of the questions. The muggleborns and half bloods answered them easily enough, but others had either made things up, left it blank, or just put a magical answer.

"Very good, put your names on your papers and pass them forward. As long as you haven't altered your answers, you will all get full credit," I informed the students.

This seemed to relieve most of them, and I collected all the paper and put them on my desk, which I then sat upon.

"Now, I've looked over the curriculum from last year. I can, without reservation, tell you that it was horrifically out of date. It was written during the 1930s, and a lot has changed since then. True, it does mention electricity and automobiles, but it makes little mention of movies, TV, household phones, planes, or modern muggle military capabilities. In short, you have been taught a load of bunk. The good news is, you only had one year of it. I am going to correct this."

"I have discussed this with the Headmaster, the Board of Directors, and even the ICW: the purpose of Muggle Studies as it has been historically seen is woefully outdated. It attempts to teach about muggles as if they are a foreign culture that can be viewed as a strange attraction but has very little relevance in your day to day lives."

"This is not true. The muggle world is changing, and it is changing swiftly. Who here knows what a computer is?"

A few hands went up, and I pointed to one of the students.

"Um, it's something the muggles use to help them with maths?"

"Good answer Helen, two points to Hufflepuff. That is exactly why computers were invented: They are used to perform highly complex mathematical equations in a very short amount of time. However, can anyone tell me the other uses muggles have since put them to?"

"You can play games on them," Ready answered. "And type on them and stuff. My dad's an office worker and he's always complaining about all the stuff he has to put on the computer. Personally I just like to play Commander Keen."

"Oh yeah, Goodbye Galaxy is a favorite of mine. One point to Gryffindor. Yes, muggles use computers for all sorts of things. They use them to play, to work, but, most importantly, they use them to automate. Anyone know what automation is?"

A Ravenclaw boy raised his hand and said, "To automate would mean to self act; to act on one's self. You can do that with some spells, like enchanting a broom to sweep your floor for you."

"Very good, one point to Ravenclaw. Muggles now have factories that run themselves. They have computers hooked up to machines which build everything from simple things like nails to complex things like a car. Human workers are there just to make sure nothing breaks, and to give the machines special instructions."

"But that's not what concerns you. What concerns you are the fact that muggles now have automated security systems hooked up to camera feeds that record continuous video. Like this." I snapped my fingers, and the lights went out (a house elf was actually running them, since I couldn't operate the lights with a wand). I snapped again, and the movie projector began to run.

"This is footage recovered by the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts division with the Ministry of Magic," I said, walking to stand beside the screen. On it, was an alley outback of a shop. After a moment, a man in robes carrying a wand appeared out of nowhere. He looked around, adjusted his robes, then walked off camera.

"Now, what happened here, and why is it a problem?" I asked the class.

"Well, he aparated to what he thought was an empty alleyway. But I guess the muggles saw him somehow?"

"That security camera caught him doing magic. He probably didn't even realize it."

"How does a camera work?"

"They make recordings that they store on film so you can play them like Professor Murphy did."

"Oh my God- if they saw you doing any magic that could let the muggles know magic is real!"

"Well how do we stop that?"

"I don't know but what does a camera even look like?"

"And there you have it," I said, bringing the discussion back around. "Muggles are inventing ever new devices that are foiling magic. You need to understand them, and what to do about them. By the end of my class, I have three goals. First, that you can protect yourself from discovery by muggles. Second, that you be able to navigate the muggle world without arousing suspicion. And finally, that you understand that at the end of the day, muggles are people the same as you and me, and that they're not something to be frightened of, but understood so that we can all share this world."

"Your homework is simple: next class period, show up in clothing that wouldn't be out of place for a muggle of the same age as you."

"But what if we don't have any muggle clothes?" Yvonne asked. "I don't own any such things: I'm a witch not a muggle."

"Well, since you are a witch, Professor Jones has assured me that as fourth year students you should have sufficient abilities in transfiguration to change your own clothes enough to manage a decent outfit."

Yvonne actually smiled at that and nodded, clearly liking that this assignment would require her to display her magical talents.

"Well, we've got five minutes yet, so why don't you all get out some paper and pens and start planning on what you would wear. Ready, Michaels, Nedd, McDowell, Finkle and Hershing, come up to the front please."

The six students who had given accurate and swift answers to the assignment came up to the front of the class. "Alright, which of you are muggleborn?"

Ready, Nedd, and Hershing raised their hands. "Muggle parent?" I asked the remainder.

Michaels and Finkle nodded, but McDowell shook her head. "No, my best friend's muggle, though. We live by a muggle village and I play with her all the time. She doesn't know I'm a witch, she thinks I'm going to some boarding school."

"Right. Well, congratulations. The gravy train just came to a halt. You are not only going to produce a single set of muggle clothes. You will bring formal, informal, and casual wear, and explain the difference between each and what situations they are appropriate in to the class. Girls, you're a group, boy's you're together, since we've three and three. Work out which of you will bring which set of clothes. You don't need to write an essay, but I will be grading you on your verbal presentation."

"But that's not fair," Ready said. "Why should we have to do more than they do?"

"Because you know more than they do," I informed them. "This class has been a complete joke that you were using to pad your resume. If you want to drop it, you can do so after the next class when you make your presentation if you bring me a signed letter by your Head of House. From now on, this class isn't a joke for anyone. You are going to earn your Os, the same as the rest. However, as a bonus, if you do well, I'll give you all more house points than I would the others. If you work harder, you get paid more. Dismissed."


	36. Chapter 36

My next class wasn't until after lunch, so I went out on patrol. I directed a few lost firsties, but mostly just kept an eye on things. At first, things seemed normal enough, and I felt like I was just at a fancy school. That was, until I saw kids floating stacks of books down the hall, or transfiguring vases into vultures, or turning their robes different colors. I passed by Remus' classroom, and stopped in since it was lunch time.

"Here's a list of points and deduction from my first class, mind doing it for me?" I asked. Turned out, I actually couldn't take or give points to students. The House System couldn't key me in to do so, and as such I had to give a list to another professor to help me.

Remus read off the quick list, then smiled at me. "Alexa had Harry in her first class. I stopped in to observe as I had a free period. He did very well. Had the lumos spell mastered by the end of the period."

"Good to hear. If there's one thing I've worried about, it's the fact that I can't teach him any magic myself might hurt him in the long run."

"Ah, he's no different then a muggleborn in that regard, and some of those have become champion duelists. Besides, it's not as though he's lacked exposure to magic. If he's got any holes, we'll take care of it. Sirius isn't a bad fighter himself you know."

"Yeah, hope so." We made our way to the Great Hall for lunch, and I saw Harry eating with his friends. This time he was sitting next to a young girl. Perks, if I remembered from the sorting correctly. I noticed the two of them bow their heads before they ate, and nodded to myself. Libra and I said our own quiet prayers before digging in.

After lunch, I had two classes; my seventh level NEWT class, and a third year class.

Sadly, the NEWT students didn't do much better on my little quiz, though they did understand what a camera was and what security risks it posed a bit better. Previous muggle studies classes had focused entirely on evading detection by muggle authorities and quaint anecdotes about how technology was used. In 1912.

Most students were enthusiastic about making a muggle outfit, and a few of the girls talked animatedly as they left about what sort of fashion statement they should make.

Then for my last class of the day, I got a headache. Two of them, in fact. Thing 1 and Thing 2 were perfectly oblivious about muggle matters, but I had to take 15 points from Gryffindor before the two of them would shut up. After I gave the freeloaders their extra assignments, I called the twins up and told them to bring their bags.

"Dump them out," I ordered.

"What?" Thing 1 protested. "That's a flagrant violation of our rights!"

'Uh huh. Dump 'em."

They complied, and I ignored several obvious rules violations, instead lifting out a blank piece of parchment. I nodded to myself and held it up. "This what I think it is?"

The twins looked so innocent that they simply screamed guilty. "A piece of parchment sir?" Thing 2 offered.

"So you would tap this with your wands and solemnly swear you are up to no good?"

The twins flushed and shuffled their feet. I looked at the rest of the students. "Dismissed. Remember, if you need help with transfiguring your outfit, talk to Professor Tonks or Professor Jones and they'll help you out."

The twins remained behind, frowning at me. "How do you even know about this?"

"Because I am Cowboy the Honorary Marauder. Isn't that right, Padfoot?"

A large black dog emerged from the shadows, growling at the twins, who stepped back in shock.

"Nipsy! Hit my music!" I ordered.

Immediately, the theme from the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly started to play. I whipped off my formal robes, revealing a flannel shirt and jeans beneath. I pulled a cowboy hat out of my desk and perched it on my head, resting my hand on my plastic handled toy revolver I had on my belt, with a buckle that read "COWBOY."

"Now you pups listen here," I growled in my very best Clint Eastwood impression. "You got a lot of nerve thinkin' you can live up to the Marauders legacy."

The black dog transformed back into Sirius Black, who was wearing a white t-shirt with a black leather vest and dark slacks. He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and slid them on as a black fedora spun out of nowhere and landed on his head. His massive belt buckle read "PADFOOT."

"Bein' a Marauder ain't about just pullin' pranks and skiving off in class," he growled. "It's about a Code. About Respect."

The twins by this point looked like they were about to pass out from sheer awesome, their mouths open as their eyes glistened with tears.

I nodded at them. "You got to stand for somethin' boys. Stand for Truth. Justice. And annoyin' the hell out of Slytherins."

"Specially their Dark Master," Sirius agreed.

"Snape," we said together. You do not want to know how many times we had practiced this. It was more than one.

Just then, the door to the classroom was flung open, and a tumbleweed bounced in. This was not, in fact, a part of the plan. A man in a shining white hat, blue jeans, a long sleeved jean shirt, and silver spurs on his boots stepped in. The music changed to the William Tell Overture, and sunlight glinted off the sheriff's star with the masked man's name on it.

"Moony?" Remus asked, looking confused.

"Woo there, partner," Remus said from behind his black domino mask. "Are you deputisin' some new recruits and fillin' their heads with lies?"

"But, how, I thought-" Sirius babbled.

"What, you thought I was too old for this?" Remus demanded, putting one of his boots up on the desk. "Well I am not. Though I have to admit, I'm disappointed in your both. An American Cowboy motiff? Really?"

"It was just supposed to be him," Sirius protested, pointing at me. "I was going for more of a punk look."

"Oh." Remus paused, frowning. "Well, I always did sort of like Lone Ranger serials anyway. Mum used to have me listen to them on the wireless."

Worst. Cowboy accent. Ever.

Remus pointed at the twins. "The point is, the Marauders are needed. Once more, we must saddle up. But no longer must you prank only Slytherins. You have to stand for Justice, and the British Wizarding way. Can you two do that?"

The twins snapped to attention. "Sir, yes sir!" they chorused. "It would be our honor to carry on the Marauders legacy!"

"We never did call ourselves that, you know," Remus observed, rubbing his chin. "But it's a fitting name none the less. Right. Well, we, the Marauders, charge you two to defend the innocent, protect the weak, and only prank in light-hearted and harmless fashion at times that don't disrupt classwork or your professors' busy work schedules."

"Really?" Thing 1 asked, looking disappointed.

Remus shrugged. "An occasional harmless prank on the staff is fine, but don't disrupt our work. Mostly though, we charge you to be the ones who protect the innocent. Especially Harry and your little brother. They've got some bad things coming, and they'll need your help."

"You-Know-Who is coming back," Sirius growled, causing the twins to spin and stare at him wide eyed. "And the Marauders must...Ride again?"

"Exactly. We're deputising the two of you," I said. "You've got to watch Harry's back. Certain parties at this school are gunning for him. Admittedly, Snape is not one of them."

"We just don't like him very much," Sirius said in a stage whisper.

Remus glared at us, and Sirius added, "But we've grown and matured and can work with those we don't enjoy spending time with."

"Take these," Remus said, handing over two silver stars with the words "MARAUDER" stamped on them. "Keep them safe. If someone ever shows you a badge like that, you know they can be trusted."

"This is so wicked," Thing 2 said.

"Do we get a gun too?" Thing 1 asked eagerly. "I've always wanted to try shooting one."

"What, this?" I took the gun out and pointed it in the air, pulling the trigger. It made a little clicking noise. "This is fake. I'd never actually bring a real weapon to school. This is pushing the envelope pretty far."

The twins looked deeply disappointed.

"Well, maybe someday we'll teach you how to shoot if your parents are OK with it. Couldn't hurt anything."

I deeply regretted those words the instant the manic gleam entered the twins' eyes.

"Regardless, keep an eye out. Anyone acting odd, or tryin' to form a scheme, you do what you can to stop it right there, then go get a professor," Remus ordered. "Or the Headmaster or Headmistress. These are vile, evil people. They will kill you if they think you're a threat."

"Shouldn't you be telling this to Percy the Prefect?" Thing 1 asked.

"Yeah, this sounds like responsibility," Thing 2 agreed."He's much more in tune with that."

"Because while Percy has many admirable qualities, spying and collecting information is not one of them. We're going to need to to collect information on a few key suspects," I informed the twins.

That got their attention. "Who?" they demanded.

"Here are a list of students with family ties to known Death Eaters," Sirius said, handing a folded piece of parchment to the twins. "Remember, they're not guilty until proven otherwise. But keep an eye on them. Pull the occasional prank that includes them, see if you can shake something loose. But don't let on you're working for us."

"Tom fears the Marauders, and what we can do to him and his followers," Remus agreed.

"Tom?" the twins asked.

"That Old Menace," I supplied. "Also, You-Know-Who's name was Tom Riddle. If you ever get any information on any item of his, come to us immediately. Do not try to retrieve it yourself, especially his diary. They are likely to contain powerful dark magics and could kill you."

"Got it," the twins agreed.

"Good, now repeat after me," Sirius said. He raised his right hand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good. I mercilessly prank the deserving, defend the innocent, and fart in the face of evil, so help me God."

The twins so swore. I took the Marauders map, and handed it to Remus. "Sorry boys, but until we can get a copy of this, we need this one to help protect the castle. It's for the greater good."

"I think Sirius and I should be able to make another copy, and you can have the original back," Remus promised. "Though if I catch you using it just to sneak in bottles of firewhiskey or booby trap the prefects lav, you'll never see it again."

"Aye aye sirs!" the twins chorused.

"Dismissed!" Sirius barked, and the twins scampered off, gleefully clutching their official Marauder's badges.

Once they were gone, Sirius turned to Remus. "Ok, how the hell did you find out about this?"

"Our newest partner in crime: Lady Justice," Remus said, gesturing towards the door.

Libra walked in, brandishing a sword and shield. Sirius let out a loud groan. "You let a girl into the Marauders?" he whined.

I elbowed him in the gut. "Can it, that's my wife, not a girl!"

"You don't think I don't fit the part, dog?" Libra asked, pointing the sword at Sirius.

Sirius held up his hands. "Alright, alright, clearly I'm outvoted. Merlin, this is that whole situation with Lily again…"

"You're getting married in four months time," I told him. "Best get used to the idea of having your own Mauradette."

That brought a dopey grin to Sirius' face. "Snivellus will never see it coming."

"He's a changed man Sirius. I hope you are too," Remus said firmly.

"Eh, mostly. I won't try to do anything harmful, but honestly he's always so Sirius. Pun intended. I just want to try to get the old bugger to laugh half the time."

"You could always do what I've been doing," I said. "Play Snape Bingo."

Everyone turned to look at me oddly. "Snape Bingo?" Libra asked.

I quickly erased the whiteboard and drew a bingo square.

"So, each time you get Snape to say something you get to mark off your square. First one to fill out their card wins, everyone pays them a galleon, then the game starts again. So, under B we have 'make a name pun,' 'call someone a dunderhead,' 'compliment someone named James,' and-"

"Oh my God," Sirius gasped. "This is what I have needed my entire life."

"This is so childish," Remus groaned.

"I think you should have 'award house points to not Slytherin' under 'I,'" Libra instructed.

Remus gasped in horror, and Libra rolled her eyes. "Oh come off it. He takes himself far too seriously. Besides, this might actually keep the two of them from actually doing anything dire."

"Hmm," Remus mused. "OK. But I think we should get Tonks and Aurora to play too."

"Hell I bet we could get half the staff to play," I mused. "Though let's just keep it amongst ourselves for now."

We quickly made up a few cards for each of us, then Libra headed home and I went to the Great Hall for dinner as I had evening patrol duty. After the meal, Harry came over with Perks and introduced us.

"Hey dad, this is my friend Sally-Anne. Guess what! She's Christian too! She was scared because her parents thought we'd all be devil worshipers or something but I told her we're actually pretty cool."

"Hello Professor Murphy," Sally-Anne said quietly, looking down as Harry introduced her.

"Hello, Miss Perks. How are you liking Hogwarts so far?"

Sally-Anne looked up, biting her lip. "Um, OK I guess. My parents thought I needed an exorcism when Professor McGonagall came but she convinced them I wasn't unnatural or anything and that I should come to school. They're still not sure though, I don't think they like the idea of me having magic."

"And how do you feel about that?" I asked her.

Sally-Anne shrugged, looking down. "I don't know. I've always felt a bit weird, but I don't want to be evil or anything. I don't want to go to hell like my parents said I would if I became a witch…"

Her voice got rougher and more ragged as she talked, and she trailed off into a half sob.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's OK. Magic is a gift from God, not a curse. It's no different than Jesus turning water into wine. Professor Tonks can teach you how to do that, you know."

"Really?" Sally-Anne looked up at me, tears in her eyes. "I'm just so scared."

"Hey, don't worry. Nothing to be frightened about. Magic's weird, but it's just another one of God's creations. Come on, why don't you two walk with me while I go on patrol."

I showed Harry and Sally-Anne around the castle, though I was still getting used to it myself. Sally, it turned out, was from a strong Irish-Catholic background. Her parents had moved to the UK from southern Ireland, but still attended mass faithfully. It had taken a lot of convincing from the Headmistress that they needed their daughter to learn to control her powers at a basic level, though they were still unhappy.

"Tell you what, Harry's mother is sort of a school social worker. Maybe she can talk with your parents," I suggested to Sally-Anne. "Harry can take you to talk with her tomorrow, and then she can help your parents figure out what all this means. It was quite a shock for me to learn magic was real myself."

"But...aren't you a wizard too?" Sally-Anne asked.

I shook my head. "I happen to teach the one subject at Hogwarts that doesn't require magic: Muggle Studies. And, as a muggle, I am quite the expert on the subject."

"That's kind of a secret though so don't tell anyone," Harry told Sally-Anne.

We talked for a bit longer, and I learned that Sally-Anne's parents were older, and she was their only child. They'd struggled to have a kid for years, and were very protective of their daughter. It had been a nasty shock to find out she was a witch, though they had thought she had performed minor miracles in the past, such as fixing a torn dress at a dance rehearsal, and finding lost items with ease.

"Well, time for you two to get to bed," I ordered. "Head back to the common room. Flying lessons for the Hufflepuffs tomorrow."

Sally-Anne looked a bit concerned about this, but Harry assured her flying was awesome, and led her back down stairs. I turned back to my patrols, wandering the corridors with my flashlight (or torch, or whatever) that Remus had enchanted for me. I didn't find anything out of place but some lost and frustrated Ravenclaw firsties, and it was simple enough to lead them back to their common room. At 11pm my duties were done, and I yawned and headed back to Hogsmeade. I was going to have to get a bicycle, because these long walks in the dark were going to be killer.

The next day brought familiar names into my classroom. Percy and Oliver Wood were both in my 5th year class together. As expected Percy was a model student, if rather ignorant of the muggle world in general. Oliver was somewhat interested in the revelation that muggles played sports, and asked me after class if they might have any relevance on Quidditch Tactics.

"Well, to answer that, I would have to know more about Quidditch than 'you play it on brooms,'" I told him. "But you might be interested in dog fighting tactics developed over the course of the last world war."

"What do dogs have to do with quidditch?" Oliver asked in confusion.

"Dog fighting refers to the art of aerial combat between fighter craft," I told him. "In the last World War both sides fielded small fast attack planes that were designed to destroy enemy fliers. You might be interested in the movie The Battle of Britain, which I plan on showing at some point for Muggle Art club. We're having our first meeting tonight."

"Interesting, I didn't know muggles fought in the air," Oliver mused. "Maybe I'll come by."

Thursdays I only had the one class, but in the evening was Muggle Music club. After dinner, I got my classroom ready with a stack of records, and put on one of my personal favorites, ACDC's The Black Album. Harry had even gotten Sirius to show up by telling him we were going to play his theme song. So Harry, Sirius, and Aurora had all stopped by, and were enjoying rocking out to the music, which Sirius had enchanted to play much louder than normal (or rather, at what most ACDC fans would consider the appropriate volume).

The club wasn't set to start for another ten minutes, when a bespectacled girl with short dark hair stuck her head in the room.

"Come on in," I called, motioning for Sirius to turn down the volume. "You here for the club?"

"That didn't sound like Muggle Music," the girl said, hesitantly stepping into the room. "At least, not the kind Professor Barring played for us."

"Oh this is definitely muggle music," Aurora said. "Don't worry Chang, I think Professor Murphy just has slightly different tastes than old Barring did.

"Chang?" I asked. "Cho Chang?" I quickly added, "You're in my Monday/Friday 3rd year class, right?"

"Yes," Cho agreed. "I was also in Muggle Music club." She held up a small case. "I play the violin. I thought it was a very popular muggle instrument. This sounds more like the Weird Sisters, except...different?"

"It's my theme song," Sirius said happily. "Make it play that one again David!"

"You want to hear more of this or should I put on something classical?" I asked Cho. "I think I have Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D no. 35."

"No!" Cho said quickly. "This is just...Different. I've never heard anything quite like this." She sat quietly and listened intently, and I went over to prop open the door a little wider.

"What's all that racket?" Filch snarled as he stomped forward. "I heard something awful and thought it had to be those damned Weasley twins at it again."

"That would be my music," I said. "It's for the club. Want to have a listen?"

"God no. A man could go deaf listening to something like that," Filch snarled. "Well. As long as it's official school business I suppose I can't stop you. But keep it down, a man's got to work around here."

After half an hour, a few of Harry's friends from Hufflepuff showed up, along with about a dozen more older students, none of whom I recognized save for Cho.

"Well, welcome to Muggle Music Club. I'm your host, Professor Murphy. I have a few notes from Professor Barring about the club, but it sounds like you mostly listened to muggle music and talked about-"

"DADDY!" a small voice cried, and a small missile in a dress hurtled forward and jumped up onto me.

"Whoa!" I said. "Who's this then? I hardly recognize you!"

Sarah giggled and poked at me. "You know who I am daddy, I'm Sarah!"

"Daddy!" another tiny voice cried, and Marie ran forward. I scooped her up and swung her giggling onto my shoulders, while Sarah clung to my back. The students all looked at me wide eyed as Libra entered in, carrying James who held out his arms. With a grunt, I managed to get my youngest son into my arms.

"Sorry," I apologized. "There are my assistants. The lovely Madam Murphy, and my daughters Marie and Sarah, and their brother James."

"Harry!" James cried, leaping out of my arms and running over to his brother. Harry picked James up and set him on his desk.

"Why are they here?" one of the older students asked, confused.

"Well, mostly because they haven't seen their father in two days," I answered, "but also to help introduce you to some new kinds of music. Now, I trust you're all terribly familiar with muggle classical composers, like Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Handel, and Chopin?"

The various heads nodded, though the students were still eyeing Marie and Sarah who were latched on to me like barnacles.

"Well, I am pleased to inform you that there is A Whole New World of music beyond the classics, so don't you dare close your eyes."

Wait. Crap. That one wouldn't come out for like three months. Oh well.

"Now, you probably already heard the rock music as you came in. What did you think of that?"

"Honestly that's the only reason I came in," one of the older boys said. "That was brilliant. I've heard the stuff Professor Barring used to play and it was bloody boring."

Cho let out an annoyed huff, and clung to her violin.

"I happen to enjoy the classics," I said. "And we'll have plenty of time to listen to and learn them. However, I had some ideas that might freshen up the club a bit. For example, that wonderful fiddle Miss Chang is carrying. Why don't we start off with something catchy." I set the girls down, and selected a record label "Irish Fiddle Reels."

I held my hand out to Libra, and Sirius stood with Aurora as the students watched skeptically. Harry sprang up and took Marie's hands, while Sarah grabbed James.

The first number was a short but very lively number that Aurora had selected for her wedding, and that we'd actually practiced a few times while at Sirius' place over the holidays. We whirled about the open space in the classroom, Libra and I dancing and laughing. By the time the first song was over, we were sweating and panting, but happy. I'd traded off to twirl both my girls around, and they were giggling happily.

I took the record off and turned to the students, who were gaping at me. "Well, what did you think of that?"

"Those are muggle violins?" Cho asked, thunderstruck. "I've never heard any muggles play a violin like that. Professor Barrington always played waltzes and stuff, but we never danced to them."

"It was alright, but I liked the other stuff better," another student commented. "Can you dance to that?"

"Of course," I said. "I think it's time you all got loose. Why don't you all stand up and join us. Sarah, if you would?"

"Bacon!" Sarah cheered, and ran over to the record player. She selected the record with the picture of a grinning Kevin Bacon on it, then put it on. A few of the students stood, mostly Harry's firstie Hufflepuff friends.

"If you're worried that this will be too hard, keep in mind my two year old son can do this," I told them. That drew some chuckles from the older students, and Cho and a few of the older club members joined us.

Now, I personally was not a huge fan of Kevin Bacon or Footloose. However, it was just about Libra's favorite movie of all time, so I'd seen it quite a few times. I had previously not been much of a dancer, but Libra really enjoyed it and dancing wasn't a bad way to spend an evening with your wife. We danced together along with the students, clapping and cheering along to the music. Most of the older students looked like they felt a little awkward, but the younger kids were very enthusiastic and were really enjoying themselves.

By the time the song ended, everyone had joined in to one degree or another, which meant none of us were paying attention at all to who was standing in the doorway as the track switched to the next song.

"Professor Murphy. Professor Sinistra. What, exactly, is going on in here?"

Everyone turned around in shock as the next song started to play, but Sirius thankfully pointed his wand at the player and it silenced itself.

"Um," I said, swallowing as I withered under the stern gaze of Headmistress McGonagall. "We're appreciating muggle music? Through dance?"

"Footloose, Aunty!" Sarah proclaimed, wigging out to the front of the room and jumping up and down. "We're dancing! You can dance too!"

McGonagall peered down at Sarah, then smiled. "I see. Argus was concerned some sort of wild spectacle was taking place."

"Well, yeah, sort of," I admitted. "But it is adult supervised."

"Very good." McGonagall leaned over so she was down at Sarah's level. "I'm afraid I can't join you for a dance tonight, young lady, but I do hope you're enjoying yourself. Good evening."

"Bye Aunty!" Sarah said, waving as McGonagall disappeared down the hallway.

"Good lord," one of the students whispered. "Did she just call the Headmistress Aunty?"

"Did we just get away with something?" another student asked.

"Don't question it kid," Sirius said. "Speaking from experience, very little gets past Aunty Minnie."

"Sirius!" Aurora protested, slapping his side. "Don't call the Headmistress that."

"I like Aunty Minnie," Sarah proclaimed. "She's nice."

"Well, I think that's enough for now," I said. "Sirius, the record player?"

Sirius put the sound back on, and I switched the track over to Rhapsody in Blue and turned to the now sweaty and tired students. "Well as you just heard, there are multiple kinds of muggle music. Including the kind you can dance to. I confess, I'm not much of a musician myself, but I'd be happy to get sheet music for anyone interested in learning."

"I don't know about that, but I'd like to do more dancing," one of the girls said.

"That was OK," a boy said. "But I want to hear more cool music. That first stuff was sort of like the Weird Sisters but even better."

"That's all going to be up to you," I said. "I will be here to direct and guide, and provide some suggestions and pointers, but this club really should be student lead. Who was in the club last year?"

Cho and ten of the older students raised their hands.

"Any of you officers?" I asked.

"Our club president and secretary graduated," Cho informed me. "We didn't have any other officers, there were only fourteen of us."

"Alright, well, any nominations for club president then?"

"It's going to be Cho, she's the only one who plays an instrument."

"You want the job?" I asked Cho.

Cho blushed, but nodded.

"All in favor?" I asked. There was a chorus of ayes. "All opposed?" No one said anything, so I nodded and wrote Cho's name down on a piece of parchment. However, I did not use a quill. I had a fountain pen for just such a purpose.

"Any other suggestions for officer?"

The boy who'd wandered in raised his hand. "I'll do something. I wouldn't mind learning more dances and new songs."

"Your name?" I asked.

"Adam Westcott. Fourth year Gryffindor."

"Any other volunteers?" I asked. No one spoke up, so I wrote Adam down as secretary and handed him the parchment and pen. "OK, so, suggestions for what we should do?"

"Disney music!" Sarah piped up.

"What's Disney music?" Adam asked, looking the fountain pen over. He seemed to figure it out easily enough though.

"It's from a bunch of popular movies," Harry supplied. "My sisters love it. Some of the songs are pretty cool, I guess."

"Can we hear some of it?" Cho asked.

Sarah ran over to the player without being told, and swapped out the record for the Little Mermaid soundtrack. She expertly put it to her favorite song, then ran to the center of the room and began to sing along to "Under the Sea." Harry and Marie joined in, along with Sally-Anne, who apparently knew the song by heart as well. By the end of it, several of the other students were really getting into the song as well.

"That was brilliant!"

"We should do more!"

"Right then, I'll put down Disney music," Adam said. "What about that stuff you played earlier? When we were coming in."

"Rock and Roll," I told him. I swapped another record out, and played the first bit of "Hound Dog" by the King.

"Yeah, I'm putting that down as well," Adam said enthusiastically.

"I want more music with dancing!"

"What about music from plays and stuff? I remember we listened to the Nutcracker but I've always wanted to see it or hear more."

"Is there any more music like the Weird Sisters?"

"What about choir music? I'm in the Toad Choir and I'd like to learn some new songs."

Adam faithfully wrote down all the suggestions and showed them to Cho, who nodded. "This looks like a good place to start. I think we should learn more muggle dances first though. I bet we could get a lot of other students to come if they knew we would have dancing, though I don't know if this room is big enough for everyone."

"I can talk to the Headmistress about using a larger space if there is more interest," I promised. "But, how about we close with one of the most popular dances for muggle kids your own age."

That met with enthusiastic agreement, so I put on "The Electric Slide." Harry and Sarah gleefully showed off their dance moves, and all the older students participated this time. After that, it was late, so I dismissed the club. "Same time next week. We'll start with disco dancing. It's time for some Saturday Night Fever. Bring your friends, and your parachute pants."

God bless you World of Warcraft Human Male dance. It's the only dance I really knew before coming back in time. Well, and the Turka Turka Tun. Draenei main for life baby.

Harry said goodbye to his siblings, and I left with Libra and the kids. "Daddy can we come dancing again?" Sarah begged.

"Only if you can disco by next week," I told her seriously. "I expect you to be able to boogie down."

 _Authors Note:_

 _Make your own Snape Bingo Card! Each time you read a fic where Snape says something on the card, mark a square. Get a Bingo, contact Sirius Black for your prize-an honorary marauder membership. Please leave all suggestions for additional squares in reviews or PMs to the author._

 _B_

" _Dunderhead"_

 _Uses Victorian Flower Language_

 _Makes a name pun_

" _Damn you Sirius Black!" (Or Harry/James Potter)_

 _Compliments someone named James_

 _I_

 _Gives house points to a house other than Slytherin_

 _Smiles_

 _Laughes_

 _Is kind to a child (or people think he is)_

 _Picks a flower_

 _N_

 _Sneers instead of talks_

 _Rolls his eyes three times in one conversation_

 _*FREE* Broods *FREE*_

 _Maybe sarcastic, maybe serious. No one can tell._

 _Glides instead of walks_

 _G_

 _Adopts Harry or becomes Harry's guardian/honorary relative_

 _Makes an incredibly OP potion, uses it frivolously_

 _Uses a naughty word_

 _Somehow is cruel to a small animal (children don't count) and seems to enjoy it_

 _Takes away points from Slytherin_

 _O_

 _Suddenly becomes handsome for no real reason (Rickman Syndrome)_

 _Hair is described as something other than greasy/lanky or hair care products are mentioned_

 _Betrays someone_

" _Always"_

 _Is obviously a virgin_


	37. Chapter 37

Friday was another session of NEWT level classes and my second 3rd year block. Cho was once more the only student I recognized, though this time I knew why she was there. She actually managed to put down "Kevin Bacon in Footloose" for actor and movie, and "Disco" for her favorite band. Disco was wrong of course, but it at least showed she had been paying attention.

With that done, I once more went on patrol. It was close to dinner time, but I did break up a couple who were getting a bit handsy. That done, I was making a circuit around the upper level of the castle when I heard someone behind me. I had halfway turned when that someone hissed "petrificus totalus."

A flash of white hit me, but I was moving right away. I turned and slammed my fist into their nose, then kneed them in the groin. They fell to the ground with a groan, and I stomped on the hand grasping their wand until the wand splintered. I paused then, realizing whoever it was was in Slytherin student robes. I nudged them with the toe of my shoe, rolling them over.

It was a girl of about 16 with long brown hair and pale skin. However, I knew well enough that appearances didn't mean jack in the wizarding world. I dug out a special bell and rung it. "Nipsy!"

The elf appeared with a crack, and let out a gasp of horror. "Master, what is-"

"No time. Get Auror Moody and the Headmistress and bring them here on the double," I ordered.

Nipsy vanished again, and I crouched over the bleeding and dazed girl. "I suggest you don't move. Or speak. I might take it poorly."

"Stupid mudblood loving yankee prick," the girl gasped, trying to sit up.

I tsked and stood, putting my shoe on her head and forcing her down. She groaned and struggled, but couldn't manage much beside clutching at her hand. "I wouldn't recommend that if I were you. Keep quiet, or I'll have to make you quiet."

After that, the girl didn't struggle much. Her face was covered in blood, and her hand had a lot of splinters in it, so she wasn't in any shape to put up much of a fight.

Five minutes later, I heard Moody coming, the thump of his peg leg distinctive on the stone floor.

"Over here," I called.

"What is it?" Moody gasped as he hurried over. "Dark Wizards in the castle?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure." I lifted my foot to reveal the girl, who glared at us. "But first, is my wife alright?

"Ah. I might have known," Moody growled. "Pyxis Macnair. You would try some fool stunt. And yes, your wife is fine. She was with Professor Lupin."

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"This bastard assaulted me," Pyxis hissed. "Then he destroyed my wand! I demand-"

"Silencio," Moody said, pointing his wand at the girl. "Don't try anything or I'll knock you unconscious. Now, Professor Murphy, what happened."

"I heard someone come up behind me. As I turned around, I saw a spell coming. I dodged out of the way, then punched her in the nose and kneed her in the groin. Once she was down I disarmed her."

"Hmm," Moody said, eyeing the wand. "Going to be a bit hard to prove she cast at you."

"What is going on?" McGonagall demanded as she hurried down the hall. She saw the bloodied Pyxis sitting and glaring at me, then groaned. "Professor Murphy, just what happened here?"

I repeated my story, and McGonagall shook her head. "Miss Macnair, what is your side of the story?"

Pyxis shrugged, pointing at Moody. He waved his wand, and Pyxis sniffed, wiping blood off her face with her robe sleeve. "I'm not saying anything until my father is here and I've received proper medical treatment."

"Very well. Auror Moody, escort this young woman to the hospital wing. Professor Murphy, come with me."

I followed McGonagall to the Headmaster's office, where Dumbledore was waiting for us. He looked even more worn than he had at the welcoming feast, and his cheeks were hollow. His eyes seemed to lack focus, but when we entered he smiled. "Ah, Professor Murphy. What has happened that so urgently required the attention of our Headmistress and resident Auror?"

"I was attacked by my niece, it seems," I said. "She snuck up behind me, hit me with a petrifying spell. Of course, it didn't do anything, but I overreacted and broke her nose, kneed her in the groin, and stomped on her wand until it broke."

"Ah." The smile on Dumbledore's face vanished, and his eyes seemed to focus at last. "That is a problem. The wand?"

"I have it here," McGonagall said. She deposited the fragments on Dumbledore's desk. "Completely destroyed. We will never be able to manage a prior incantation on it."

"Hmm. Let me see." Dumbledore drew an odd looking gnarled wand from his robes, and tapped the other wand. Its shards flew back together, and Dumbledore nodded. "Very good, very good."

"What on earth?" McGonagall gasped, looking shocked.

"Let me guess, you didn't tell her," I said, shaking my head. "The time for you to keep secrets from McGonagall is past, if there ever was one. She's going to be taking over for you very soon. She has to know what pieces are on the board if she's to be effective."

"I trust the Headmaster's judgement," McGonagall said. "Though to be frank Albus, I've never seen a bit of magic like that. I've seen wands repaired before, but never so completely."

"This wand is the master wand," Dumbledore said simply. "And I its master. I can do as is needed."

McGonagall's frown deepened. "Are you telling me that old wives' tale is true?"

"I shall allow you to draw your own conclusions, Minerva. Take the wand, and have Alastor perform the proper spell upon it."

Minerva took up my niece's wand, then hesitated. "I need to know what is going to happen to Professor Murphy, Albus. What is your plan here?"

"I assume your story is true, David?" Dumbledore asked gently.

I nodded. "It is. As I said, I overreacted."

"I am inclined to disagree. If you were hit by a petrifying spell, and you were truly a normal muggle or even a wizard, you would be at the mercy of the one who cast it. And your niece has no love for you. I am inclined to do nothing to you, and punish her most severely. Assaulting a professor is a severe infraction."

"I agree," McGonagall said. "Do you wish the girl expelled?"

"No," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "But she shall have detention for a month, and lose access to her wand for two weeks. I think we can safely assign her detention to someone else, as it is reasonable that a family member should not oversee another's detention. Severus would be the ideal choice, as her head of house."

"Very good. I will also communicate to her that she is on thin ice, and any further misbehavior will result in her expulsion," McGonagall said firmly. "I will not tolerate such behavior at my school, or in yours, Albus."

With that, she left. I turned back to the Headmaster, who was peering at me intently.

"Yeah, I know, I screwed up," I said, shaking my head. "I assaulted a student and I shouldn't have."

"Not at all, Mr. Murphy. Please, sit down."

Surprised, I took a seat and waited.

Dumbledore's eyes lost focus for a few moments, until he shook his head and looked back at me. "You were not raised in the wizarding world. You do not know what sort of crime it is to use magic on a muggle who means you no harm."

"I know it got your father in Azkaban," I said quietly. "And I know that he also was defending his daughter."

"I suppose your knowledge in this matter should not surprize me," Dumbledore said. "And yet, you continue to amaze me in that regard. And you are also shockingly ignorant."

"I knew being a professor here would paint a target on my back," I sighed. "But it's the only way I know to be able to help keep Harry safe."

"And indeed, your willingness to face danger for the sake of your son is an admirable quality. But that is not what I referred to. No, only that once it becomes widely known you are a muggle, very few people, save for the most diehard of the Pure Blood faction, will take Miss Macnair's side. If you were a wizard and she humiliated you, that would be one thing. But to use magic on a muggle is seen to be the same as abusing a helpless child."

"So basically, Pyrix is going to be seen as trying to beat up a baby."

"Precisely. So, attacking you, even though you are well aware of the magical world and are a Hogwarts professor, would be seen as a social faux paux. Additionally, I find it it likely that Pyxis will lie about your encounter."

"Well, yeah. She'll probably just say I beat her up," I said.

Dumbledore smiled faintly and shook her head. "No, she will claim you hexed her with several bludgeoning curses and blasted her wand."

"What? But that doesn't make any sense. Why would she lie about me using magic on her?" I demanded. "I mean, I believe you; you've proven to be honest and honorable, but I don't get why she would do that."

"Because striking another wizard physically is seen as the ultimate insult," Dumbledore explained. "It communicates that you consider them to be utterly beneath you in every way. That they are so extraordinarily weak and foolish that you would not sully your own magic, instead using the same methods baser creatures would use. Pardon the comparison."

You know, as much as I thought Dumbledore was a pretty decent guy, it was stuff like this that made me realize just how ingrained the prejudices of the wizarding world were. Muggles were viewed as children who couldn't defend themselves, and using muggle methods to protect yourself was seen as base and insulting.

"But that means it's likely to be made public I'm not a wizard at all. What will that mean for you and the school?" I asked.

"Do not trouble yourself. I have made it clear that I have full confidence in you and your abilities, as does Minerva. My position with the board is not as tenuous as you may think. I am still viewed as a hero for helping to defeat the Serpent of Slytherin, your Supreme Danger Noodle, and having already anointed my successor many believe I can do no wrong. Those who, shall we say, favored the other side in this conflict, have mostly been removed or silenced."

"Alright," I said. "I'll just have to be prepared to deal with crap from the students I suppose. But what about Harry and Libra? How is this going to affect them?"

"I will have quiet word with the heads of houses and especially with Pomona. Hufflepuff is an ideal house for Harry at this point. They should close ranks around you. I will want the prefects to keep a close eye on the Macnair siblings and their friends. Thankfully, they are limited to Slytherin, and Severus will keep a close eye on them as well. Your family will be kept safe."

"Good. Has Remus showed you the map?" I asked. "Maybe we can use that."

"Indeed. I believe he said he and Sirius will be delivering copies for each of the professors. Alastor in particular is most interested in the map and the principles behind it, as keeping track of who is in the castle and where they are at all times is a most useful tool. I am sorry the Weasley twins have lost their wonderful pranking device, but this is for the greater good."

"The Greater Good," I echoed. Sadly, I doubted the Headmaster had ever seen Hot Fuzz. At least we weren't sacrificing children for dumb reasons.

"And now I fear we must deal with the fallout from this," Dumbledore said, slowly getting to his feet. "I must-"

I came around and offered the old man my arm. He smiled at me, gratefully taking it. His grip was boney, but still strong.

"Thank you. Let us make our way to the hospital wing."

Dumbledore was unable to move very quickly, but he did manage to walk with purpose. I helped him down the stairs, then from there he was able to manage with his cane. The most frightening thing was how light the old man was. He was much taller than I was, yet I don't think he weighed hardly anything. What was keeping him together, I didn't know.

"Are you sure you need to keep using the Stone?" I asked him quietly as we walked along a deserted corridor. "You're falling to its allure, I think."

"I must," Dumbledore whispered. "I cannot stop."

I had to agree with him. Any chance to save Harry, I was willing to take it.

"I believe I will have a ritual ready for Harry soon," Dumbledore said after a few more moments of walking. "There are just a few more pieces that need to be fit together. It is all in my notes. I just need a little more time."

Libra was waiting outside of the hospital wing, and rushed over when she saw us, Harry not far behind.

"Are you alright?" Libra asked me, taking my head in her hands.

I kissed her hand and smiled. "I'm fine. Just a little family dispute."

"Did you kick her ass dad?" Harry demanded.

I shook my head. "She's your cousin, Harry. I wouldn't want to hurt her. I used the bare minimum of force to remove her as a threat."

"Headmaster?" we turned to see Madam Pomfrey. "Ah, and Professor Murphy. Good. Auror Moody and Director Scrimgeour will need to take your deposition."

I sighed and nodded. "Don't wait up for me too long, the kids need you. I'll be fine."

I stepped into the hospital wing with Pomfrey and Dumbledore, and she led us to a small room in the back. Moody was at the door, frowning. He followed us inside, where Pyxis lay in bed, a grim faced man with a tawny mane of hair sitting beside her.

"There he is," Pyxis exclaimed as soon as I entered. "He attacked me. Hit me with two bludgeoning hexes and a blasting curse! My wand was completely destroyed by this maniac!"

"I've heard your side of the story, MIss Macnair," Scrimgeour said."I think it only proper that I hear Professor Murphy's. Come, let us-"

There were steps behind me, and I turned to see a man who looked so much like Libra, and yet, looked nothing like her at all. His hair was the same shade of blond, and he had her high cheekbones and a similar nose. Yet his eyes, instead of being a warm brown were dark, and dead. They didn't seem human, but closer to a serpent's or crocodile's: they saw only prey, and looked only for weakness.

"What has been done to my daughter," the man said in a tone that wasn't so much cold as it was void, empty of anything, communicating the bare facts of the words. "And why is this filth still at the school instead of in chains."

"We have yet to determine guilt in this case, Macnair," Moody growled. "Your daughter has been interviewed. We shall do the same for Professor Murphy."

"There is no need. My daughter would not lie. This man is an American, and consorts with squibs and muggles. Obviously, his testimony must be questionable."

"Hello, brother," I said in a tone that was not nearly as devoid of emotion. It came out more of a growl, really, and I felt my hackles rise as I glared at the man.

Walden's gaze met mine for a moment, but he looked through me, not at me. "Why are you allowing this criminal to address me, the grieved parent. Let us hear his lies so that we may send him to Azkaban where he belongs. Or, perhaps, if you are kind, to my axe."

Moody spoke. "We shall take him away to conduct his interview and-"

"No. As the parent of the injured party, I demand he tell his tale here and now, so that all may see his lies for what they are. I will not allow his minders to cover for him. Let his folly be heard by all."

"Father, he assaulted me," Pyrix called. "He hit me with hexes, blasted my wand to splinters, and tried to kill me until he was stopped."

"See? My daughter's injuries bear this out," Macnair stated, shoving his way forward and gesturing to the bandages on Pyrix.

"Well, there's the slight problem of everything she just said being a lie," I said evenly, then turned to Dumbledore. "I apologize for my niece's behavior, headmaster. Normally in my family we value the truth."

"She is no niece of yours," Walden snarled, emotion tingeing his words for the first time. They didn't see to be the feelings of a man, but rather the fury of a rabid animal. "I am an only child. I have no siblings."

"It seems a lack of acquaintance with the truth runs in this branch of the family," I said, not bothering to keep the fury out of my words. "But let's hear Pyxis story, one more time. Then I can refute it line by line."

Pyxis looked to her father, who gestured for her to speak.

"You sure you want to do this, Professor," Scrimgeour asked quietly. "It doesn't look good for you right now."

"I think the facts will speak for themselves in a moment," I said evenly.

"I was walking along the fifth floor corridor after my divination class," Pyxis said. "I had just come around the corner when I saw Professor Murphy walking by. Not wanting to be associated with a man who makes such false claims on my family honor, I turned and walked away. But I heard a noise. When I turned, I was struck full in the face with a bludgeoning hex. Then another in my groin. Finally, my wand was blasted out of my hand. You can see the blood and splinters, and my nose which was just set. And I have bruises."

All eyes turned to me. "Well, first, I didn't see you. You came up behind me, and tried to hit me with a petrifying curse. This could be proven easily enough with a check of your wand."

"Impossible. You destroyed my wand," Pyxis snarled, though she looked worried. She seemed to realize a check of my own wand would reveal I hadn't cast any charms. She could probably claim she thought I had used magic. Wouldn't work though.

"Headmaster? Would you be so kind as to give Director Scrimgeour the confiscated wand I delivered to you?" I asked.

Moody's eye narrowed when he saw the restored wand, but he didn't say anything.

Dumbledore produced the wand, and passed it to Scrimgeour. "I can confirm this is young Miss Macnairs wand."

Scrimgeour studied the wand. "Hmmm. Has a few shards missing, but in good order. _Priori Incantatem_!"

White thread shot out of the wand, enveloping nothing, then fading.

"This matches up with the Professor's claim. A petrifying curse was used from this wand not an hour ago," Scrimgeour proclaimed.

"I must have tried to use the spell when he attacked me," Pyxis said quickly. "My family is very well trained."

"Well, next is the problem that I never hit you with any spells," I said.

"Impossible," Macnair said dismissively. "How else could you have injured my daughter?'

"After I managed to dodge her spell, I lashed out. I couldn't see who was attacking me, but I did punch her in the nose and knee her. I kicked the wand out of her hand. It took a couple of tries, she was gripping it hard. However, I will point out I had no way of knowing who was attacking me."

"Why didn't you just disarm her like any sensible wizard?" Scrimgeour demanded. "Physically attacking a student is-"

"Professor Murphy could not have done so," Dumbledore said calmly. "He has no wand."

"No wand?" Scrimgeour asked, perplexed. "But why? Surely he needs one to teach."

"I teach Muggle Studies. One of the rules in my class is no wands and no magic. I set the example for my students," I answered. "They're there to learn about muggle culture and methods."

"But why wouldn't you bring a wand on patrol?" Scrimgeour demanded. "That seems foolish."

"Because bringing a wand would be pointless," I answered.

"You continue to mock our ways," Macnair snarled. "Are you so in love with the muggles and their ilk you wish to become one?"

"I do indeed love your sister," I answered evenly. "Even if she's far more magical than I am."

That seemed to completely baffle Macnair, and he blinked at me, confused.

"Let's make this easy," I said. "Me muggle. Me no have magic. Me no hex niece."

Macnair's eyes went wide. "But, you-you!" he trailed off as his fingers clenched around an imaginary neck.

"You hired a muggle?" Scrimgeour asked Dumbledore, his tone incredulous. "How…?"

"I happen to be the foremost expert in my field," I said. "I co-authored the _Magic, Muggles, and The New World_ curriculum with the help of Akeakamai Kaʻiminaʻauao, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW. Which is, by the by, the very same muggle studies course taught here at Hogwarts and the one endorsed by the ICW for adoption by all of the great magical schools."

"Professor Murphy was by far the most qualified applicant for the position," Dumbledore said. "And, he was hired with the approval of both the Board of Governors and the Minister for Magic."

"Hmph. Well, not my call. Either way, I think we are done here," Scrimgeour said, turning to the door.

"What do you mean, we are done here," Macnair growled. "My daughter was assaulted by this filthy muggle!"

Scrimgeour half turned, glaring at Macnair. "Your daughter attempted to hex her professor, who is a muggle, then lied about him casting spells on her. Everything Professor Murphy has said has been proven to be true. Everything your daughter has claimed has been proven to be false. I would arrest her for attacking a muggle with magic, but as she is a minor and this occurred on Hogwarts grounds, I will leave her punishment to the Headmaster."

"You would take the word of a muggle over the word of a pureblooded witch?" Macnair demanded.

Scrimgeour turned around and opened the door. "I'm taking no one's word. One version of events lines up with the facts. It is not your daughter's. Drop it, Macnair. I suggest you resolve your family matters that are clearly clouding the judgement of you and your daughter."

With that, Scrimgeour left, leaving the Headmaster and I with my brother-in-law and niece. Family: You can't live with 'em, because they will try to murder you.

Macnair ground his teeth audibly, which was the sort of thing I thought only small children did. "Well, what are you going to do?" he demanded of Dumbledore.

"Young Miss Macnair will be dealt with by her Head of House," Dumbledore said calmly. "Normally I would have Professor Murphy issue the punishment, but I believe, due to the familial relation, that would not be proper. However, I will say that if any individual is to attack one of my staff members or their families again, I will personally deal with such an affront to this institution."

Macnair did not respond, turning his back on Dumbledore and looking down at his daughter. "Next time, do not fail."

"Yes, father," Pyxis whispered, looking down and away from her father.

With that, Macnair turned on his boot heels and stormed out of the room, his robes swirling behind him. I followed, hoping he wouldn't see Libra. She was waiting just outside, but Macnair didn't acknowledge her presence. He just went right through her, Libra forcing to jump to the side to avoid being bowled over.

"Well screw you too," I muttered as I came up to Libra, watching as Macnair stalked away. "He do anything to you?"

"No," Libra said, coming over to put her hand in mine. It was cold and clammy, and she was trembling.

I looked to Dumbledore, who had followed us out. "I think I might need to head out early today."

"Very well. I shall have another professor cover your evening patrol. Actually, I believe young Tonks was thinking of heading home as well. Why don't we head down to the Great Hall and ask her?"

Tonks did indeed feel a sudden need to be home, and Libra and I gratefully accepted her company after bidding Harry farewell.

"So, your family is a bunch of tossers too?" Tonks asked as we walked home.

I nodded, but Libra turned to look at Tonks. "Yes. I suppose with you related to the Blacks, you'd know something about that."

"Bunch of bigoted idiots," Tonks agreed. "Except for Sirius and my mum of course. Did you know, my auntie Bella managed to get an owl post to my mother when I was born? She swore she'd try and kill me if she ever laid eyes on me. I sent her a picture of me in Hufflepuff robes when I graduated. I morphed myself to look just like her too. Mum was scandalized. Well, once she stopped laughing that is."

"Was it hard, on your mother?" Libra asked.

Tonks shrugged. "Don't know really. You'll have to ask her. I'll let you know the next time she comes over for tea."

"I knew Andy growing up," Libra admitted. "She was quite a bit older than I, but, well, our families ran in the same social circles."

"We can form a club. 'The Disappointments to Purebloods Who Are All Not Tossers.' We can wear funny hats and stuff," Tonks said. "Well, here's your place. You need anything, give a shout. We disappointments have to stick together."

To Tonks surprise, Libra stepped closer and hugged the younger woman. "Thank you. It's been a long time since I've had any real friends."

Tonks smiled and hugged Libra back. "Well, you've got some now."

 _Authors Note:_

 _I'm going to be travelling over the summer. Some updates are going to be spaced a little further out due to this._


	38. Chapter 38

Life went on, as it always does. Saturday Libra took a trip with McGonagall to the Perks residence, as Sally-Anne's parents were still upset and concerned about their daughter. I was pretty sure she'd be safe as long as she was with Minerva, but you never knew.

I, on the other hand, had no classes on Saturday, as only core classes were taught, and only in the mornings. However, I did have Cinema Club to run. I'd convinced McGonagall to split Muggle Art Club off, and Alexa had volunteered to run that as she was a bit of a painter. She wasn't really familiar with muggle paintings or anything, but she said she'd like to do some hands on art projects. The old Muggle Art had never been all that popular anyway, as all they'd ever done was look at a few old paintings, books, and statues, never really doing anything hands on.

My idea was to show movies and having the kids discuss them. I'd angsted for a long time about what movie in particular to show. Arthur and Sirius had been my guinea pigs and both agreed that they didn't like any muggle movies that depicted magic in any form. They spent most of the movies complaining about how everything was wrong, and that things didn't work that way. However, they both liked movies that focused more on classic stories and themes, or fast paced action and comedy.

So, with that in mind, I couldn't show my favorite movie, Princess Bride. There was simply no way the students would like how inaccurately magic was portrayed. I also couldn't show any really adult stuff, as I would have kids from ages 11-17. I needed something that had themes that were fairly timeless and didn't rely on pop culture references for it's humor, like The Blues Brothers or even Monty Python. As good as those were, most of the students just wouldn't get any of the cultural stuff.

So instead, I opted for something that had no magic, but was (or would be) considered a timeless classic that featured something relatable, with relatable characters, but was also a pretty good picture of where muggle culture was at for this particular moment in time. It was also a movie that Sirius and Arthur had found enjoyable and understandable: Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Now, I was a bit worried because the movie featured all American actors in America, but even Libra assured me that it was plenty relatable, especially to Hogwarts students who might want to on occasion dodge out of their studies.

I set up the projector in an old amphitheater style classroom that could seat about 100. I got Nipsy and the house elves to provide me with bags of popcorn, which they had never heard of before, but were happy enough to make. I was charging five sickles a bag, which more than paid for the popcorn and would allow me to continue to buy more films, as the school budget was long gone.

With everything prepared, I went over my notes for the next week, not expecting more than a dozen or so students to show up (if that many) since around that many had showed up for Muggle Music. I had of course announced the club at my classes and put up fliers in the common rooms of all the houses, but I didn't think wizards would be lining up to come.

Harry was the first to show up, along with some of his Hufflepuff friends; Sally-Anne, Ernie, Lavender, and Wayne. They all took seats near the front, along with buckets of popcorn. Sally-Anne and Harry were the only ones who had eaten popcorn before, but the others seemed to enjoy it.

Not long after, Adam came along with a group of 4th year Gryffindors. I recognized one from my class, but the others were all new faces.

"Afternoon Professor," Adam said, waving. "This going to be as interesting as that music you showed us?"

"Even better," I promised. "Though this isn't Footloose."

"Well it beats sitting around doing homework," Adam commented. "It's raining outside and there isn't much else to do right now."

"Well, have a seat, I'll kick things off in a few more minutes," I told him.

Cho arrived along with two other Ravenclaw girls, one being Marietta Edgecombe. That name rang a bell; she'd been in the DA and betrayed it to Umbitch. They sat over with Adam and his three friends, talking about their quidditch aspirations. Apparently, Adam and Cho both wanted to try out for Seeker, though Adam's friends teased him that he was rubbish on a broom.

Ron came in along with Neville, Seamus, and Justin. They went to sit over with Harry and the other first years. Percy also showed up, along with some other 5th year prefects. There was also a steady trickle of other students in between, including Hermione Granger who snuck in alone and went to sit in a back corner by herself, holding some parchment and a quill and looking shy. I whistled loudly, and Harry looked up. I motioned for him to come to me, and when he did I pointed to Hermione.

"Why don't you invite her to come sit with you and your friends. She's a firstie like you, and she looks lonely."

"Not surprised, she's kind of a bossy know it all," Harry said with a shrug. "But yeah I'll invite her to come join us."

I put a hand on Harry's shoulder, and he turned to look at me. "She could be important. Make an effort."

Eyes going wide, Harry nodded. "I will, nobody should have to sit alone at a movie."

Hermione looked surprised when Harry went over to invite her to come sit down with the other first years, but she happily did so. She was soon talking with Justin, who I recalled was also a muggleborn.

The time came, and the room was actually mostly full. Thing 1 and Thing 2 bounced in just as I was shutting the doors, though they hung out in the back and didn't make too much ruckus. To my surprise, Remus and Hestia came in after the doors were closed, taking seats together in the back. Remus whispered something to Hestia, and she blushed and laughed, pushing Remus on the shoulder. She said something to him, and then it was his turn to blush and laugh.

Huh. Guess that was going somewhere. Good for them. Tonks was still far too young for a serious relationship with Remus, and besides a lot had changed. I had a feeling trying to make things happen the way they had before would have been dooming myself to disaster.

I stood at the front of the room, and did the time honored standard: Clap-clap clapclapclap. You could instantly tell who the muggleborns were, because they all responded with the same pattern. The other students quieted down just the same though, and all eyes turned to me.

"Welcome to Muggle Cinema Club," I said. "I'm glad you're all here. The purpose of this club is to experience muggle culture through the lens of movies, television, and shorts. Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering what, exactly, those things are. In a moment, I'll show you, and you'll get to experience the muggle world as if you were there yourselves."

"After, please stick around. We'll be discussing the movie, as well as electing officers for the club. The officers will help to decide what movies we'll be showing next, along with my help."

"Now, without further ado, I present to you the classic comedy, Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

The students adored the film. Many of them laughed at Ferris' antics to get a sick day, but they completely lost it during Ben Stein's lecture.

"Bloody hell, they got a muggle Binns!" someone shouted. The students dissolved into laughter, and even Remus and Hestia chuckled at that.

While I had thought somethings wouldn't translate well, to my surprise they did. Students nodded at the problem of not having a car, and I heard one mutter, "My mum won't let me take the broom ANYWHERE."

Another student nodded sagely at the reference the ferrari was held in. "My brother won't even let me look at his Nimbus."

The technology seemed to just be accepted as well, from the use of phones to recording devices, students simply went along with that they worked. I imagined it was a lot like watching a science fiction film to them. There was a lot of weird stuff, but you didn't pay much attention to it because the plot didn't focus on it.

At the end of the movie, the students all cheered and clapped. I hit the lights, then walked back up to the front of the room.

"Now, what did we learn from that?" I asked the crowd. I pointed to one of the students in the back with their hand up.

"Muggles skive off too!"

"That is true," I admitted. "And while I am no Dean Bitterman, I can assure you that here at Hogwarts we do not condone faking an illness to miss classes. I will also point out that this is a comedy. Ferris and his friends are supposed to get into ludicrous situations, because we find them amusing. What else?"

"Do they really let kids drive around cars like that? I thought they were dangerous."

"Driving a car is similar to apparition. You must first pass a test to do so, and many teens either take a class or are taught by their parents. You are then issued a driver's license which permits you to operate a car."

There were a few other questions, mostly relating to how the film worked and if muggles acted or lived like they did in the movie. I explained that this was a work of fiction, though based enough on reality that some muggles did live or act as depicted.

"Now, as a school club, we're going to need officers," I said after all the questions had been answered. "Officers will be responsible for helping select movies and also for explaining how the movies relate to certain aspects of muggle culture. For example, Ferris Bueller's Day Off shows what life might be like for muggle teens who live in a city, though most of them would take a year to do all the things Ferris managed to do in one day. It also shows how a muggle student can use technology to do much the same things that a magical one could do, like recording his voice, or playing pranks. Anyone who is interested in becoming an officer please come down to discuss it with me. We'll have elections next week. Everyone else, dismissed. Next week, I'm showing Disney's Robin Hood."

Most of the students exited, talking animatedly about the movie and what they'd thought about it. About a dozen stuck around, mostly older students who were seeking officers positions. I explained the roles of the President, Vice President, Secretary, Quarter Master, Librarian and Treasurer to the group, then asked for questions.

"Please sir, can a first year be an officer?" a high, reedy voice piped up from the back of the group. I was surprised to see it was Hermione Granger, peering over her parchment nervously.

"Of course. You only need to prove you're qualified for the position then get elected by the rest of the club," I said.

"Well, I am very interested in film, and I've watched a lot of movies and read a lot of books," Hermione said. "But I'd also like to suggest we have someone who does a write up of the movies to publish in the school paper. Like critics do in the newspapers."

"That's not a bad idea," I mused. "Our own resident critic. Of course, anyone interested in the position would have to be willing to write extra essays on the matter and remain unbiased in their reviews."

None of the other students look interested, but Hermione anxiously put her hand up, standing on her tiptoes so that her hand was about even with some of the taller students heads.

"Very well, if no one else is interested in being our critic, you can have the job Miss Granger," I informed her.

"Thank you sir!" Hermione said, beaming at me. "I'll start on the one for Disney's Robin Hood straight away! I'll also talk to Madam Hooch since she runs the Hogwarts Gazette."

"Right, well, it's about dinner time, so why don't you all head on out," I said. "We'll have a time before the next movie for you to each give a speech, then we'll vote."

Everyone shuffled out, save for Remus and Hestia, who were still sitting at the top of the amphitheater.

"Well, what did you think?" I asked as I walked up and took a seat beside them.

"Fascinating," Hestia said. "I've never seen one of these movies before. I don't think the students had either. I wonder, why don't we have a wizard cinema?"

"Because they're horrendously expensive and time consuming to make," I said. "You just don't have the population base to support a full fledged entertainment industry. Only the wealthiest and most populous countries on in the muggle world can afford to have a homegrown movie industry."

"How much did this one cost to make?" Remus asked.

I shrugged. "A comedy like this without many big special effects? Probably somewhere under ten million dollars. Or, say, about a million galleons. Maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less."

"A million galleons?" Hestia asked in astonishment. "Are you serious? How on earth can the muggles afford something like that?"

I chuckled. "This one was relatively cheap. The really big movies can cost ten times that. We might watch Return of the Jedi, that one would have cost about five million galleons to make."

"But how do they make their money back?" Remus demanded. "No one pours that much money into art without some expected return on investment."

"Movies are big business. We'll talk a little about that with the kids, but let's just say if you charge everyone a galleon to go see your movie, and ten million people go see it, you've made your money back and then some. Hell, Return of the Jedi would have made about a hundred million galleons in profit, and that's just ticket sales."

"Bloody hell," Hestia breathed. "That's...that's incredible. There are just so many of them! And this movie, I have to say, I have never seen anything like it at all! And you claim it isn't anything extraordinary?"

"Oh it's pretty incredible for a movie. Very funny, and this one has stood the test of time. It came out six years ago, and is still very popular. I'll even bet you that this one will be fondly remembered decades from now. Most movies are not this good. But, effects and budget wise? No, this movie isn't anything out of the ordinary. It's not a big special effects movie like Star Wars or a grandiose epic like Ben Hur. But I don't know that we'll ever watch Star Wars."

"Why not?" Remus asked.

I shrugged. "I showed it to Arthur Weasley and he thought it was really dumb. Kept pointing out that muggles couldn't actually do any of the things they did in the movie, and that the Force is just another name for magic and they got it completely wrong."

"Well I'd like to see it," Hestia vowed. "David, you have got to tell the other professors about this. I'm certain they'd all love to see some of your films."

"Yes, we'll have to all take turns coming to see them," Remus agreed. "Even if they're not all as entertaining as this one was, I think everyone will want to experience it at least once."

"Yes, this was downright magical," Hestia proclaimed. "I mean, I know it wasn't made with any magic, but really, I can't see how."

"I can't really explain how movies are made," I admitted. "I'm not very familiar with the mechanics of it. But I assure you, it's not done with any magic at all."

We made our way to dinner and sat at the high table. Like most meals at Hogwarts, dinner did not have a set beginning and ending time, but rather students and staff filtered in and out over the course of the hour long time to eat before departing. The hall at the moment was relatively full, and the meal available was a thick and hearty lamb stew with rolls and a green salad. I sat next to Libra, who was already seated.

"How was your visit?" I asked her as a bowl of stew appeared on my plate. While students had to serve themselves, the house elf staff prided themselves on waiting upon the professors.

"It went well," Libra said. "The Perks were very relieved to hear that not everyone at the school was heathen, even if I am a protestant. They were reassured by the Headmistress that Sally-Anne wouldn't be taught any devil worship, and that there is even chapel on Sundays."

"Oh?" I said, dipping my roll in my stew.

"Yes, I wasn't aware of that either. Apparently it's not much used. The Headmistress confided to me she'd need to find a chaplin as well."

"You know, I was a chaplain for a few years," I said after I'd swallowed my bite of roll. "At Camp Raymond in Arizona. I did Christian, Jewish, Mormon, even a Hindu service once. Though at the non-christian ones I mostly just provided supplies."

"Oh? Is that so Professor Murphy?" McGonagall said, leaning over from the other side of Libra.

I nodded. "Yeah. I don't have anything but my bible at the moment, but if you needed someone to lead a non-denominational christian service I could do that on Sundays."

"I believe I may take you up on that," McGonagall said. "I've had to pay to have the Vicar from Godric's Hollow come for years, but he's getting old and I don't know who would replace him."

"Sure thing. I'm not an ordained minister or anything, but I've lead plenty of bible studies and worship services," I said.

"Excellent. I'll have the Heads of Houses post notices for any of our spiritually inclined students," McGonagall said. "We'll start next week."

"How was the movie?" Libra asked.

"Pretty good. The kids seemed to like it. There were a lot more there than I expected though, I did a head count and I had 73."

"That's good though right?" Libra asked.

"Yeah, not bad at all," I agreed.

After that I had the night off, and we met with Harry out on the Green.

"Dad, everyone's talking about your movie!" Harry told me. "All the other Hufflepuffs are so jealous they weren't' there after they heard how funny it was. Some of them said they thought Muggle Studies was boring last year, but this year you made it really interesting with music and movies and stuff. A bunch of them said they want to check out the gaming club, especially when I said I'd be running a campaign!"

"Well good. Glad it was a hit," I told Harry. "You coming home tonight?"

"Yeah, I told Professor Sprout and she signed me out," Harry said. "It's cool living in the dorms but I miss everyone."

The other kids were all happy to see Harry, even though they'd seen him just two days ago on Thursday. We went for a walk together through the village, then went to bed.

Sunday morning we went to the Hogsmeade chapel, where there were very few families in attendance. The vicar was a tired old man who have a very short homily and sang two hymns in a trembling voice before ending service. The kids were pretty bored by the experience, but they were happy enough to get to spend time together.

The most excited though was definitely Padfoot, who spent every available moment with Harry. The ban on her sleeping in Harry's bed was lifted out of necessity, and she curled up happily with her boy. She also ran about with the kids during the day, while they played in the garden. Around dinner time, we walked to the Great Hall together, Padfoot running beside us, sniffing at all the wonderful things to find. I wondered if dogs came in magical varieties. I knew there were magical cats, but no one really associated dogs with magic. Which was too bad. A dog was a much better friend and companion when the going got rough.

A few of Harry's friends saw us and came over to play with Padfoot and the other kids. Sarah was insistent they tell her everything about their broom riding class, even though they'd only had one so far. Harry promised that he'd take her on another flight soon, much to my chagrin. Harry also brought back Humperdinck in his robes. Wesley had already taken up residence in the owlery where he didn't have much to do, though Harry promised he checked on him daily.

"Hey guys, check this out," Harry said, revealing the snake. He hissed at it, and the snake slithered up Harry's arm to perch on his head, where it waved it's tail at the other students.

"You can talk to snakes?" Lavender demanded, looking worried.

"Can I talk to it too?" Sally-Anne asked.

"You can try," Harry said with a shrug. "I guess it's some sort of rare ability or something."

"Harry, you know that's a Dark ability, right?" Ernie asked.

"Why? What makes it Dark?" Harry asked. "Snakes are cool. They're not all evil."

Sally-Anne looked unsure of this. "I don't know Harry, it was the serpent that tempted Eve…"

"Humperdink is not evil!" Harry protested. "Well, OK, he is in the movie, but Humperdinck the snake isn't."

"Oh! He's a movie?" Lavender asked, suddenly very interested. "I liked that last one, it was very funny and the girls were just so pretty! I wish we could wear outfits like that to the movies...can we watch the movie with Humperdinck the Snake? What's it called?"

"The Princess Bride. It's like, my and my dad's favorite movie ever," Harry said. "It's inconceivably awesome."

"You keepa using that word," I told him. "I donna think it means what you think it means."

"It has PRINCESSES?" Lavender said. "Ooooo! Harry, Professor, we HAVE to watch this movie! I've always wanted to be a princess, but in the stupid books the witches never get to be one, the princess always plotting against magic or something but the princesses have the best clothes!"

"Well there is Maid Marian in Robin Hood," I suggested. "She's...a lady?"

"Does she have nice dresses?" Lavender pressed.

"She's a foxy lady," Harry said. I was impressed at his ability to keep a straight face.

We ate dinner together in the Great Hall, leaving Padfoot tied up at Hagrid's hut with Fang. Fang, the big sissy, was scared of Padfoot, who was half his size and really a great big puppy. He had to be coaxed out of the hut by Hagrid to see Padfoot, who jumped around and sniffed at him, trying to get the boarhound to play with her.

Sarah got to go sit with Harry at the Hufflepuff table, and the other kids welcomed her readily enough. A few of the older girls were especially happy to coo over her. The one who really paid attention to her though was Isaac Leeds, who was the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain. Apparently, Harry's enthusiasm for brooms was already known, and Isaac seemed set on sowing the seeds of success early.

The younger two had to sit with us though, and the house elves kindly provided booster seats for them. We got a few odd looks from the students about having our children with us, but the staff were universally happy to spoil them. Interestingly, McGonagall was hands down the worst offender. She snuck Marie not one, but two extra desserts when her mother and I were not looking. I thought she might correct Marie when she was called "Auntie McGoggle" but she laughed and patted Marie's cheek instead.

James was delighted to share stories about the faeries he'd found, with Hagrid and Professor Kettleburn as attentive listeners. He listened wide eyed as Kettleburn recounted tales of the various critters he'd wrangled over the years, from cerberi to wyverns. I had the sneaking suspicion that if Hagrid didn't bring a cerberus or dragon into the castle, James was going to try convincing him to go find some. Hopefully, he wouldn't end up with a magical mechanical arm like Kettleburn had.

Then it was time to bid Harry goodnight. Sarah cried when she had to hug her brother goodbye, but Harry reminded her she could see him again soon. "But I want you to stay with us!" Sarah protested. I finally had to pick the sleepy girl up to carry her home, which quieted most of the protests.

We made our way back, with a moping Padfoot who whined as soon as she saw Harry wasn't with us. On the way back, I noticed that Libra was agitated, and walking much faster than normal, so much so that Alexa had a hard time keeping up with us, and that was with Libra carrying Marie and James.

Once the kids were in bed, I got Dobby to make us some tea so we could sit down and talk

"Did you see Pyrix?" Libra asked. "She was looking at us. There was another boy with her, younger. He keep staring at us as well. I think that's her brother, Wendell."

"Wow. Your family certainly likes it's theme names," I observed.

"David, focus," Libra snapped. "Pyrix was leering at us! I could tell, she wants to hurt our children!"

"That's going to be hard," I told her. "Harry's always with his friends, and the staff know to keep an eye on him. Hell, she doesn't even have a wand right now, so you can relax."

"What if she tries something? What if Wendell tries something?" Libra demanded. "I checked, he's 13. He's old enough to know some nasty spells."

"Libra, if they hurt the kids in any way, they'll be expelled. Dumbledore has made that clear. Moody has a copy of the Marauders Map now. He's told me he'll keep an eye on both of them. If they're somewhere they shouldn't be, he'll stop them."

"I hate having to rely on them," Libra growled. 'We should be able to protect our own children!"

"I don't like it either," I said. "But we had to rely on others to protect our children all the time. We have to rely on the police to keep armed maniacs away from us. We have to rely on the military to keep us safe from missiles and planes and tanks. There's nothing we can do to stop threats like that."

"But I should be able to!" Libra said. She dissolved into tears. "Why don't I have magic, David? Why can't I defend my babies the same way Molly can?"

I put my arms around Libra, hugging her tight. "Because if you did, I'd have never met you. Because you wouldn't be the woman I love. You'd be someone else. You're you, and you're just perfect the way God made you."

Libra hiccuped and nodded, but she sat up to cling to me tightly. "I'm still so scared, David. Seeing Walden again...he was always cruel, as a child. But he never hurt me, not physically, and it was rare for him to even insult me. He protected me. But when I saw him...he hated me. Wanted to kill me."

"That's OK, I kinda want to kill him too," I said. "And I'm here, now. I might not be a wizard, but I'll do everything I can to help protect you and this family. Even be nice to Snape."

Libra nodded, then took me by the hand and led me up to bed. I can't say I minded her need that night, but it hurt me that she was in so much pain, and that I could only do so much to comfort her. When she awoke in the night, I held her and stroked her hair, telling her it would be alright.

But I too could remember the hatred that had burned in Walden's eyes. The real question was, was I Cain, or Abel? Because one way or another, this earth and time were not big enough for the both of us.


	39. Chapter 39

Monday I got to see the results of my students' efforts to dress as muggles. Overall, they did a passable job. Their dress was, for the most part, rather traditional and conservative in nature. Even the muggleborn kids chose styles that were a few years out of date (though admittedly, I thought everything was either way too 90s or way too 80s, but it would take the world another two decades to catch up to my fashion sense).

Interestingly, none of the kids dropped out. In fact, I had two dozen new applicants for my class, transferring in from other electives or picking mine up as an extra. I accepted all of them as it was still within the time limit and they were spread out over my classes enough that I wouldn't need to start another section. When I asked the students why they wanted to take my class, the response was almost universally that they thought it would be a lot more interesting than Muggle Studies had been in the past.

"Professor Barring was alright I suppose," a sixth year Slytherin told me. "But, well, it just all seemed like a bunch of stuff I had, except shoddier. But you've been showing all these things I've never even heard of. If muggles can have a cinema, I think we ought to have one as well. There is nothing a muggle can do that a wizard can't do better, and I want to learn how to make that sort of thing."

I personally disagreed with that sentiment, but the desire to learn more so that he could better his own people was a noble, if rather providential, goal.

From here, my classes diverged. My upper level classes were focused heavily on being able to perform basic tasks in the muggle world without drawing attention or creating suspicion. We would spend the first quarter on muggle transportation.

"You all know the basics of muggle currency," I told the students. "It's not that hard, and if you botch it, do a funny accent."

That got some laughs, but I shook my head.

"I'm serious. If they think you're from somewhere in Eastern Europe where the currency is different, they won't be all that suspicious that you don't know how to make change. Actually, a funny accent will help you out a lot since you're obviously from a different culture. But, what we're going to focus on is using muggle transportation to get somewhere. There are actually times where muggle transportation is faster or more efficient than the wizarding variety. Can anyone give me some examples?"

"Those aeroplanes. They're faster than airships. It took us two days by airship to go to America."

I nodded. "That's true. A plane can go transatlantic in between 8 and 10 hours, depending on which way you're going and weather conditions. Any others?"

"I took the muggle ferry from Dover to Dunkirk one time. It wasn't as fast as flying a broom, but it was much more comfortable and it was certainly easier going through Goblin Way."

"The Tube is pretty brilliant for getting around London. There's not a lot of safe places to apparate to and you can't floo everywhere. The Charing Cross Station is also right next to Diagon Alley."

"Personally I can't stand the Knight Bus, it scares the daylights out of me the way they drive. A muggle taxi might be a little slower but you won't bloody well think you're going to die at every turn."

"All good points," I said. "We're going to focus on the different kinds of transportation, and what you'll need to access them. I'm glad you brought up international trips, because we'll also be going over the process of obtaining muggle identification that will allow you to cross muggle borders legally. In fact, we're going to start with the different forms of muggle state issued ID, and how to obtain them. Do know that part of passing this course is that you will, in fact, need to apply for and receive muggle identification papers from the muggle government, and then use them to secure transportation of your choice."

Several of the students were very interested in the driver's licenses, and I told them that while I didn't have a car for them to borrow, if they could indeed pass a drivers test they would receive extra credit. A lot of the Ravenclaws perked up at that one.

For my lower classes, we focused more on muggle culture. The girls were really interested in the clothes, and we would indeed be spending time on them. However, I also threw the boys a bone, and focused a bit on uniforms (especially sports uniforms). We would even be playing several muggle sports outside on nice days, and the students would be required to have appropriate muggle dress (though some of them would need help with transfiguring their clothes properly). I also promised a field trip at the end of the semester, which would combine the use of clothes with their ability to spend muggle money and order food at a muggle restaurant.

Monday's and Tuesday's classes went well, even with the new students joining us. Tuesday evening, however, was what I had been really looking forward to. After the success of Music and Cinema, I really had high hopes for Gaming Club, especially since Harry had practically the entire first year of Hufflepuffs frothing at the mouth to try Dungeons and Dragons. I had Sirius pick up a few extra sets of games and manuals for me, and I secured an old empty ballroom on the third floor to set up in. Dobby brought the munchkins over for dinner, and afterward we all went to the ballroom for the students.

It wasn't long before hordes of them descended upon us. Apparently, word had gotten around about the music and the movie, and everyone wanted to see what novel experience I had in store for them.

"Welcome to Muggle Gaming Club," I told them all. "Here today, I have a variety of traditional muggle games. Right now we just have the board games, but I'm working with Arthur Weasley from the Ministry of Magic to get a couple of arcade cabinets as well. My son will be over in the corner running his very own Dungeons and Dragons campaign, although I hear he has a strict rule that not EVERYONE can be a wizard."

Instead of laughs, that got a bunch of blinks and awkward shuffling. I coughed and continued. "As for other offerings, I of course have classics like chess, but also Axis and Allies, Risk, Monopoly, Battletech, Warhammer 40k, and a bunch of other board games. So find a game you like and get a group together. If you have any questions, I'll be circulating around the room to help out."

The students hurried in and got out the games, but we very quickly ran into a problem: they kept asking the game boards what the rules were. Apparently, in wizard games, the board would just tell you the rules. I had to announce that you had to read the manuel, and then we ran into another problem. The board games didn't move themselves. Wizarding games, again, were animated. They would move themselves. They would also yell at you if you tried to cheat or break the rules, which these games did not.

Soon, the nearly full ballroom began to empty, the students looking very disappointed.

"Are you sure the music will be good?" I heard someone ask. "You don't have to make it yourself or something do you?"

"Oh no, the music was perfectly normal really, and much more interesting than this. After that movie I was expecting something wonderful, but this was just like a rubbish version of the games I have at home."

The only group that didn't lose any members was Harry's Dungeons and Dragons session. He had Ron, Hermione, Lavender, Ernie, Sally-Anne and Justin. It was a pretty big group for a DnD Session, but Harry's description of his campaign setting (which had Justin, Sally-Anne, and Hermione laughing because it was clearly a wholesale rip off of Lord of the Rings) had the students enthralled. Even the three muggleborns were very much into the idea of forming their own fellowship and journeying with Harry's DM NPC Gandalf the Wizard.

They were all informed that wizards were completely off limits, and that they had to have a diverse party with everyone as a different class. Sally-Anne picked a homebrewed Cleric of Eru, excited that she would have holy powers to smite their foes, naming her elf Taldawen. The role of party meat shield went to Justin's dwarven Fighter Binli son of Bloin, which had Harry and Hermione sniggering. Ron went with a ranger, liking the idea of having an animal mount, though he went with a boring human named Ralph (Harry was unable to talk him into a thematically apropos name). Lavender went with a beautiful half elven bard named Undomiel, who was Arwen's half sister according to Harry. Their skill monkey and sneaky backstabber was Ernie's halfling thief that he named Humbert, which everyone agreed was a decent enough hobbit name. Interestingly Hermione wove a wonderful backstory for her druid that involved seeking long lost lore taken by the kingdom of Angmar in the 2nd age and her being a descendant of the Beornings so that she could shift into a bear.

They spent most of the evening rolling up their characters and creating a backstory with Harry, and setting out on their quest with the One Ring to destroy it once and for all. Harry warned the muggleborn he would be throwing a few curveballs their way, and that they had best be on their toes.

"We simply must go to Moria though," Justin proclaimed. "That is where my father's bones lie. And, of course, all that wonderful mithril. We'll be rich lads! And ladies."

I did have a few other groups of students stick around. Several seventh year boys really got into playing Risk together, especially after they spelled the dice to roll for them and enchanted their armies to sweep across the land. Another group played various card games together, laughing and betting old butterbeer bottle caps. Two muggleborn brothers got their (somewhat unenthusiastic) friends to play 40k with them. Apparently, their father was a huge fan and played Blood Angels like Harry did. Personally, I was still holding out for my Tau even if I did have a full IG unit and some greenskins.

To my sorrow, the rest of the games were mostly unused, although Libra did get our kids to sit down and play Chutes and Ladders and Candyland. I joined in and it was pretty fun, even if we had to keep Sarah from going over to pester her older brother every other minute.

At the end of the night my Risk gamers told me they thought it was brilliant, and they even told the 40k players they would like to join in. I told them about Axis and Allies and they agreed that sounded good as well. The card players had also tried out Balderdash! toward the end of the night and had liked it, and promised to be back as well.

Harry said goodnight to his siblings, and Sarah once more sniffled at having to say goodbye to Harry. Hermione, Sally-Anne, and Lavender were all very kind and promised that they would take good care of Harry and make him write Sarah a letter.

"Why? She lives like a mile away from here," Harry protested.

"I want lots of letters," Sarah said, clinging to Harry's robe. "I can read now you know, so I will read them to James and Marie and we'll write you back."

Sarah could "read" a few of her books and had a few dozen sight words she had memorized, but she certainly couldn't read any letters.

"I'm sure your brother will be happy to write you a few notes. Wesley is getting fat in the owlery with no exercise, and it would be good for him," Libra said.

Harry sighed but agreed, and sure enough he began to write short notes to Sarah, Marie, and James, about what he had done or with short jokes and funny stories. Sarah did indeed write him back, though mostly with pictures of things she did with Dobby, labeled with crude letters. Marie also included her own drawings, which were surprisingly detailed featuring crude backgrounds and somewhat detailed people. James mostly wanted to include dead bugs he found on his walks, but Wesley kept eating them.

As for my niece and nephew, they kept out of our way. Thing 1 and Thing 2 regularly reported on them and their activities. It seemed that Pyxis was spreading rumors that I was a muggle, which had initially resulted in a great deal of disbelief on the part of everyone. Harry reported he was being pestered with questions about it, and asked what he should say.

"You should tell everyone that I'm a haoli. Preferably in that outrageous accent you seem to have perfected," I told him.

Harry grinned wickedly. "Ehh brah, you known dem wizahd boys dey ask all kine lolo stuff. I say my faddah he a haoli and dey just ask more dumb questions."

Despite Harry and the twins sowing chaos amidst the ranks, it really was only a matter of time before people started to figure out what was going on. This was not, unfortunately, helped when on Thursday morning, a copy of the Daily Prophet arrived with the headline:

"MUGGLE HOGWARTS PROFESSOR HARRASSES PUREBLOOD STUDENTS."

"Wait," I said, not bothering to pick up the paper. "Don't tell me. It's by Rita Skeeter."

"It is indeed," Remus confirmed for me.

Tonks made a face, glancing over her own copy of the paper. "This isn't going to look good for you Murph."

I looked out over the students, and saw more than a few stealing glances at me. "Ah. Damn it. Really should just tell them."

"Where's the fun in that?" Tonks asked, sitting down beside Libra. "Take it you saw the paper already?"

"Yes," Libra sighed. "I don't know what we should do."

The Headmistress came up behind me. "Professor Murphy, if you would join myself and the Headmaster in his office, please."

Libra and I stood and followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall. I grabbed some scones to eat on the way and passed one to Libra. She tucked hers away, but I scarfed mine down and tried to wipe the crumbs off my robes. Really awkward to wear, formal robes. The only good thing about them was that they were nice and warm but they were awful to walk in.

The Headmaster looked pale and drawn as usual. He did at least have a half finished bowl of porridge on his desk.

"Ah, David, Libra, good evening," Dumbledore said, looking up from his paper.

"Albus, it's morning," McGonagall said gently.

"Oh?" Dumbledore blinked, his eyes red and bloodshot from what I presumed was a lack of sleep. "I suppose it is. Yes, of course, I was just reading the paper. This article is, shall we say, a bit of a problem for us."

"We could just tell the kids that I am, in fact, a muggle," I said. "I'm pretty sure that half of them will figure it out before too long anyway."

"That indeed may be a good solution to part of our problem," Dumbledore agreed. "However, the deeper problem will be the number of parents who protest at a muggle being allowed into our most hallowed of institutions."

"And let me guess, my dear brother will be leading the charge in that matter," Libra half snarled.

"He will be, but he is only a figurehead," Dumbledore replied. "The true power behind the movement is Lucius Malfoy."

"And he's on the board of Governors as well and can cause some real problems for us," I said.

McGonagall shook her head. "His influence on the Board is no longer a major concern. After his foolish claims that the Chamber of Secrets was not real, nor that it could contain any real dangers to the school, he has lost the trust of the other board members. While he still has money and influence, he can no longer call for a vote and have someone removed so easily."

"They might listen to him now if muggles are so unpopular," I muttered.

"Perhaps, but you do in fact have a trump card. One I would like to ask you to play now," Dumbledore said. "You are Harry Potter's father, and he loves you. I would like for your family to be interviewed by a friend of mine at the Daily Prophet, and by Xenophilius Lovegood of the Quibbler."

I glanced at Libra. "Do we want that kind of attention?"

Libra sighed and shook her head. "Want it or not, I'm afraid we have it now."

I pursed my lips. "If we can't fly under the radar, we may as well go in guns blazing."

Dumbledore and McGonagall both blinked at me. "And what, Professor Murphy, does that mean?" McGonagall finally asked.

"Oh, er, radar is a form of long range sensors used to detect flying objects, especially airplanes. If you fly close to the nap of the earth, it confuses radar waves and can prevent detection, so it's a stealth approach. Going in guns blazing means you're not even trying to be subtle, you hit 'em hard and fast."

"So you are agreeing to the interview, then?" McGonagall prompted.

I sighed and nodded. "Yes. But Xenophilius Lovegood...that rings a bell somehow." I rubbed my chin. "Wait, does he have a daughter? Luna Lovegood?"

"Indeed. Why, is she important somehow?" Dumbledore asked.

I felt my blood run cold and all the color drain from my face.

"David?" Libra asked. "David what's wrong?"

"Is...did Luna's mother...die?" I finally managed.

"Pandora Lovegood was in good health the last time I checked," McGonagall said. "Although her accident three years ago did burn down the Rookery. The family all escaped unharmed however, and I believe she learned her lesson on that front, though with the Lovegoods you can never tell."

"Oh thank God," I muttered, slumping in my seat. "It's just...I just remembered. She died, somehow. I don't remember what happened. I think an erumpent horn they had exploded and killed her, but I couldn't remember when. If I'd forgotten to mention that…"

Dumbledore nodded, but McGonagall cocked her head to one side. "Professor Murphy, I believe we need to sit down next week and have a long talk about these books you claim to have read."

"Any time," I said. "But what about this interview?"

"I believe some time today would be best," Dumbledore said. "How about directly after your 10:00 class?"

"Sure, though someone else will need to take my rounds," I said.

"We will cover it," McGonagall promised.

My morning class went smoothly enough, though I couldn't help but feel nervous. Right after, Harry and Libra came in.

"Are we really going to get to talk to a reporter?" Harry asked as soon as he was in the door. "Cause if it's that lady who wrote that crap I think you should just punch her, dad."

"I'm hoping it's literally anyone but Rita Skeeter," I told Harry. "But if you see any iridescent beetles, either squish them or hold them captive because she's an animagus."

"There's an awful lot of beetles dad. But I'll tell Humperdink to eat any he sees. Right Humperdink?"

Harry's snake slithered out from his robes and nodded his head, his color pattern going to black with white banding that looked sort of like a skull and crossbones. Harry hissed at the snake, which raised his head and flicked his tongue in and out, testing the air.

"Oh my. Is that a poly chromatic whip snake?"

We turned to see a man dressed in robin's egg blue robes with a bright pink and yellow polkadot tie.

"Mr. Lovegood, I presume?" I asked, extending my hand.

"Xenophilius, if you please," he answered, taking my hand and squeezing it before going over to peer at Harry's snake. "Oh, those are quite rare young man. Wherever did you get it?"

"Hagrid got Humperdink for me for my birthday," Harry explained. "He doesn't know where he's from, Hagrid hatched him as an egg a few months back."

"Oh? Does he talk?" Xenophilius asked as McGonagall entered with a flaxen haired woman with large bifocals that made her look a bit bug eyed.

"All snakes talk," Harry informed Xenophilius. "Though they don't usually have much to say. They're mostly concerned about finding warm places and food. I told Wesley to look out for beetles but he won't remember unless I remind him."

"Fascinating, a snake capable of understanding human speech," Xenophilius said, scribbling something down on a piece of parchment he'd drawn out of his robes.

"I see you've already met Mr. Lovegood," McGonagall said. "This is Saffron Scrivener of the Daily Prophet."

I had to suppress a groan. Wizards and their damn names.

"A pleasure," Libra said, shaking Saffron's hand.

"I'll remain on hand if anyone has any questions," McGonagall said, going over to my (rather messy) desk and clearing off a small space to work at.

"Let's start with the question on everyone's mind," Saffron said, transfiguring some desks into a comfortable couch and two chairs. "How, exactly, did Harry meet the two of you?"

"Well I met dad first," Harry said as we sat down on the couch together. "He was my first year teacher at school."

"This was at a muggle school, yes?" Saffron asked, writing down some notes on her pad. Xenophilius appeared to be doodling pictures of Wesley.

"St. Gregory's Primary School," I confirmed. "I had just moved across the pond from Chandler, Arizona."

"That's quite a long way," Xenophilius mused. "Did love bring you so far? Seeking after the hand of the fair maiden?"

"Actually I hadn't met my wife yet," I said, taking Libra's hand.

"Oh?" Saffron said. "Well, I suppose I'll ask more about that later. So, Harry was in your Year 1 classroom where you were a muggle teacher. Did you recognize him?"

"No," I said. "Though I knew something was off. Not magically, anyway, at the time I wasn't even aware magic was real. No, instead I recognized signs of an abused child."

Xenophilius stopped drawing. Saffron's quill stopped moving, and she looked up, her face shocked. "Abuse?" She prompted.

Harry shifted nervously. This wasn't something we talked about, ever. He rarely even referenced his Aunt and Uncle or even talked about a time before he had met me. It has been years and years since he'd accused Libra or I of not being his real parents. I could only recall it happening once in Hawaii less than a month after our move and he'd immediately broke down in tears and apologized.

"When...when the Potter's died, I went to live with my Aunt and Uncle," Harry said, looking down at the floor. Libra and I both put our arms around him, and Harry melted into our embrace. "They didn't like me. At all. I didn't know why. They told me James and Lily had died in a car crash. They said they were bad people, druggies or something. I was really young, I don't remember much. But...I remember...darkness."

Harry sniffed and wiped away a tear, and Libra rubbed his back gently. "I remember the...the cupboard. When...things happened...sometimes it might have been magic, or they just got angry at me… they'd lock me in there."

Harry shudded, his whole body shaking as his voice quavered. "I never knew how long I'd be in there. Sometimes it was only a few minutes. Other times, it was hours. There was a small lightbulb, but if I left it on it would get so hot, and if it burned out which it did all the time because I only got old used ones, I'd have no light for months sometimes. Sometimes they would shove a little food in there, some bread and water usually, and I'd be in there for over a day if they were really angry. And if I had to go to the bathroom, there was just this old bucket. Usually they'd let me out, but not always. It would smell so bad…"

Harry stopped again, and I handed him a tissue. He blew his nose and shook his head. "They never, like, beat me or anything. Dudley would hit me sometimes, but not my aunt or uncle. Uncle Vernon would shove me around, but not hit me. Aunt Petunia...well, she would just ignore me. Act like I didn't even exist. I never remember them really even touching me unless they had to. I felt like something was wrong with me."

"I never went anywhere. Dudley would get to go to the park, or the zoo, or parties, or just out to eat. They'd lock me in the cupboard instead, or drop me off at Ms. Figgs most of the time. She was OK, but she didn't really like me either, just talked at me about her cats mostly."

"So...so I never really had anyone who loved me. No one ever gave me hugs or high fives or even wanted me around. I spent most of my time alone, doing chores or trying to not get noticed, because somehow it was worse when they would look at me and I could see how much they would rather I wasn't there. So...so I just pretended I wasn't there."

"And then school started. It was...it was the best thing ever. I felt like dad cared when I was there. He was always giving me a hug or a high five when I got to school. He made sure I got enough food when I was hungry. He gave me stuff, like pencils or little toys when I was good. And if I was bad, he didn't yell at me or hit me, he'd just talk to me and tell me to make a good choice."

"And then...and then That Day came. I don't know what happened. Dudley had a toy that was broken and he said I could have it, so I was playing in his second bedroom when-"

"I'm sorry, did you say second bedroom?" Xenophilius asked. "Earlier, you implied you had to sleep in a cupboard. Was this not because your relatives were impoverished and had no room for you?"

"Oh no, they had two bedrooms for Dudley and a guest bedroom," Harry said. "They just made me sleep there because they didn't want me touching any of their stuff."

"I see. Forgive my interruption." Oddly, he was still drawing, not taking notes at all. What was with this guy? Oh, right. Luna's dad. Nevermind.

"So, I was playing with the toy, and it was pretty cool. It was an old dinosaur Dudley had gotten for his birthday but it used to make noise and he'd dunked it in his bath or something and now it just sort of gurgled but it mostly worked. Anyway he came in and told me to give it back. I got mad because he'd said I could have it and told him it was mine now. So he pitched a big fit and I yelled, and then he hit me in the eye and took the toy. I was hurt and on the ground, but I remember being so angry he was taking my stuff when he had so much, and then...well, the dinosaur flew out of his hands and started floating out the window. And then Aunt Petunia came in and saw it floating and yelled at me and I got locked in the cupboard again."

"It was in the morning, but they didn't let me go to school that day because they were so mad still. They gave me some food and water and left me, and I remember crying because I couldn't go to school and see dad, because he'd always make me feel better even though I was just a student. He was like that with everyone, even Oliva. She was really weird, always talking to herself and throwing fits and blinking a lot."

"Oliva, she was a muggle girl in your class?" Saffron asked.

"Yeah she was like, dad's special project or something. She had autism," Harry said.

"Olivia was a young girl who manifested signs of autism spectrum disorder," I clarified. "She had stereotyped repetitive behaviors and rituals, sensory integration problems, social and language developmental delays, and was also a big fan of Birmingham FC. Oh, and in your interview, please refer to her under a pseudonym. I'm not sure what FERPA laws are in place in the UK but I'm not at liberty to discuss details of my prior students educational needs."

"I see. But getting back to your experience Harry, you said you were locked in the cupboard. How long were you in there?"

"I don't know. All day I guess. Except for one time when Aunt Petunia let me out to use the bathroom but then I had to go right back in. I remember feeling so, so alone. Like I would never be out or able to do anything again. And then...and then I heard something."

"I was sort of half asleep, not paying attention, when I heard voices outside. Aunt Petunia sounded excited and I thought I heard dad talking, but I didn't say anything because Aunt Petunia was always really mad if anyone ever heard me in the cupboard. But then she left, and I heard a knock on the cupboard and dad called my name."

"I didn't believe it. I thought I was imagining things. I mean, I had always imagined someday someone would come and get me. Like, a grandpa or uncle or something, or even my parents who would turn out not to be dead. They'd be a secret agent or super rich or an adventurer or something, and we'd leave together like Daddy Warbucks and Orphan Annie."

"It's a muggle story about an orphaned girl who's taken in from an orphanage by a rich muggle," Libra clarified. "The musical is very popular."

"You should show it sometime dad, I bet the kids would like it," Harry said. "It was always my favorite."

"Sure," I agreed.

"But anyway, dad opened up the cupboard and took me out. Then Aunt Petunia came and I was certain he would believe her that I was bad and I deserved it, and that I'd get put back and have to stay in there forever until I died."

"But I didn't. Dad yelled at Aunt Petunia then took me to a gas station and called the cops. Then they asked me a bunch of stuff like you're doing now. I don't really remember much except they gave me some soup and a milk and it was really good. Then dad took me home. He made me pancakes for dinner. And gave me orange juice. I got seconds too. It was the best thing I'd ever eaten. We still make pancakes all the time, and it always makes me think about how he saved me."

"Thank you, Harry. That's...I'm sure it was hard for you to share that. But, Professor Murphy, perhaps you can provide your own account?" Saffron asked.

I cleared my throat. "As I said, Harry had the signs of an abused child. He was always hungry, as if he didn't get enough to eat. He recoiled from physical touch at first, but then he couldn't get enough of it. Small, confined spaces frightened him. He broke down in tears the first time he got put in the time out corner and was inconsolable. After that, I had him take time outs at my desk where he wouldn't feel confined. He would flinch at loud noises. His clothes were frequently soiled and did not fit him well. It was rare for him to initiate any interaction with peers, and he would frequently play alone by himself."

"He was also frequently tired as if he wasn't sleeping well or enough, and he seemed to lack appropriate muscle tone in gross motor activities. Hygiene routines were very poor, especially compared to his cousin. He had frequent mood swings going from manic to depressive at a rate unusual even for a small child. All these signs pointed to abuse and neglect. I consulted with the Headmistress of St Gregory's school, and she agreed to a home visit after Harry was unexpectedly absent."

"When I went to the Dursley's home, they acted as though Harry was ill. However, when I saw the locks on the cupboard, I was suspicious. It is very, very odd for someone to put locks on a cupboard that open easily from the outside but would keep someone inside. I investigated and found Harry. The small space he was in had inadequate bedding, ventilation, space, and lighting. He also had a black eye. I pulled him out and left with Harry and contacted the police. They interviewed Harry, and were going to place him in a foster home."

"That was...well, that was the first time I knew that something very odd was going on with Harry. When they attempted to separate Harry from myself, as I was not a foster parent, there was a blinding flash, and then the paperwork that said Harry was to be placed with me mysteriously appeared. Everyone who came into contact with the paper, even myself, felt an overpowering urge to place Harry in my home."

"I can confirm that," Libra said. "I handled that paper the next day and it just felt so...right. Harry belonged with David Murphy. But once you set the paper down the feeling faded."

"Is that where you come into the story Mrs. Murphy?" Saffron asked.

"Yes. I was a social worker, and Harry was placed in my case load. He was placed in David Murphy's home under highly unusual circumstances, so I set out to investigate it. I had been, well, hiding I guess is the right term, in the muggle world for some time. I had been...left...in the muggle foster care system by my mother as an alternative to my father killing me for being a corruption of the Macnair bloodline."

"I see," Xenophilius said, looking up from his sketches. "Then the rumors are true. Your father did seek your life."

"He would have, as would my brother, I believe. We are somewhat estranged. However, my mother did not agree to the scheme, and hid me away in the muggle world. Abandoned me, really. She couldn't stand the sight of me. I haven't seen her in more than 20 years," Libra said.

"Hmm. Hard family matters to deal with," Xenophilius mused. "I wonder, could a nivler ghast be to blame?"

"Try the darker side of human nature," I growled. "We don't need nargles or blibbering humdingers to make us into monsters. Humanity is perfectly capable of dark and terrible deeds without outside influence. Voldemort did not rise to power because everyone was infected by wrackspurts. He did so because he appealed to the pride and lust for power of a large segment of the population. The same goes for muggles: The Dursley's did not mistreat Harry because of a curse or a illithid feeding on their dreams. They did so because there is something fundamentally broken in the human condition that only God can cure."

"Ah, so you do know of the mind flayer conspiracy," Xenophilius said, nodding to me. "You are wise, for a muggle. Or even a wizard for that matter."

"Wait, mind flayers are real? I thought they were just a monster in DnD," Harry said.

"Let's not get sidetracked," Saffron said firmly. "You were saying, Mrs. Murphy?"

"David and Harry came into my office," Libra said. "David was lost and confused, but you could tell he cared deeply for Harry and wanted to help the poor boy. Harry however, I recognized immediately. Even after 15 years of exile, I knew the Boy-Who-Lived on sight, especially with that name and scar. And I have to say, I was terrified."

Saffron pursed her lips. "Terrified? Why?"

Libra took a shuddering breath. "Because I had spent 15 years hiding from the wizarding world believing that my mother had been murdered for hiding me and that my father and brother and their friends were still very much out for my blood. I knew people like Lucius Malfoy had escaped Azkaban, even after torturing that poor muggle family to death."

"Excuse me, did you just claim to have witnessed Lucius Malfoy torturing muggles to death?" Saffron asked.

Libra shook her head. "I'm sorry, I should be clearer. Lucius Malfoy and my brother were friends. They both received their Dark Marks around the same time. Walden killed Annita Bones and her baby, and Lucius tortured a muggle family to death somewhere in Kent. I don't know many details, only what I overheard my brother bragging about to mother and father, or what I saw them doing in the barn from a few peeks."

"Mrs. Murphy, would you wait a moment?" McGonagall said, standing. "I'm going to call Alastor for this. Saffron, Xenophilius, please, stay. I'm afraid this is about to get very sticky."

Well, I'll be damned. For once, it wasn't my casual utterances of momentous events that were about to change history.


	40. Chapter 40

_Authors Note:_

 _I don't normally put "trigger warnings" on my work, but up to this point this has been a mostly lighthearted family adventure. In this chapter, we are going to dig deeply into Libra's past. Her truly horrifying, terrible past. We will get vivid descriptions of things she witnessed, of crimes her family and other death eaters committed, and the sort of coarse language they used. It isn't going to be pretty._

"Let's start over from the beginning," Amelia Bones said, her eyes glowing with intense emotion as we sat in my classroom. I don't know what I had expected Libra's words to do, but summoning the Minister for Magic, the Chief Auror, and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was not it. Amelia Bones, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were all in my classroom, staring intently at Libra.

Harry had been sent away with McGonagall, the two reporters were being held by hit wizards (which seemed to be the beat cops of the magical world) in an empty classroom. I had remained with Libra, and she had a death grip on my hand.

"I was 9 years old. It was 1970, sometime in the fall," Libra said, in a voice so full of pain I scarcely recognized it. "Father had been involved with an organization known as the Knights of Walpurgis for years. It was an old pureblood club, with all the usual families as members. The Blacks, Lestranges, Crabbs, Goyles, Malfoys, and of course the Macnairs. They, well, they went muggle baiting. I lived in terror of them the entire time I lived in the muggle world, or in terror of what they would come to call themselves. The Death Eaters."

"One day, father came home talking of this new man who had shown up at the meeting. He called himself…" Libra licked her lips and looked to the Minister.

"You'll need to say the name, for the record," Amelia said.

"Voldemort," Libra whispered. "Lord...Lord Voldemort. He was...well, powerful. New. Exciting. My father said he was a new Grindelwald, but one who was stronger, more aligned with the old ways."

"My brother had just graduated from Hogwarts the year before. He was a year ahead of Lucius Malfoy, who had graduated that spring. They usually skipped the meetings of the Knights, claiming they were a boring collection of old fools. But then, well, then things changed."

"Father was the first one to be marked. He murdered Thomas Potter, Harry's great uncle. I don't know the details, only that he was marked for it. He was one of the first Death Eaters outside of the Inner Circle as they called it."

"Well that's one old case we can close," Shacklebolt muttered. "Damnation. We should have hauled you in for questioning the moment you resurfaced."

"I didn't...I never...I try not to think of that time," Libra admitted. "They...well, they suspected I was a squib then. My father looked at me oddly sometimes, and my brother was growing cold and distant. I had yet to do anything magical, but they were reserving their judgement, at least for the time, and they were distracted."

"It's alright," Amelia said, patting Libra's hand, her eyes unfocused and filled with tears. "I understand. That was a dark time for all of us. If it wasn't for dreamless sleep potion, I don't know that I could ever sleep for having to relive it. But you said something about Gideon's wife, Anita. What happened?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Libra admitted. "Only that Walden murdered her and her child. He...he bragged about raping her first. Talked about...I'm sorry, he was very crude."

"Say what he said. No embellishment, no padding the blow. I've heard worse," Amelia ordered.

"He said, 'I fucked that whore and filled her belly. Had her suck me off too. Fucked her up the arse as well. For two days, had my way with her. Tried to get her to kill her own baby, but she broke the imperious when I did. Reapplied it three times, couldn't get it to stick. Ended up bashing the stupid thing's head on the floor. Damned thing would have grown up to be a blood traitor. She cried she did, so I fucked her again and made her laugh while I did it.'"

"He said that? Exactly?" Moody demanded from his post by the door. "You're certain he claimed to have imperioused her?"

"Yes," Libra confirmed. "I saw him do so frequently. He'd imperious the house elves, muggle girls he brought home, all the time."

"Did he ever stop?" Amelia demanded. "Like after he began to serve Voldemort?"

"No, if anything it increased," Libra said. "You can find all the bodies of those poor girls buried out back of our home, by the graves of the house elves. They're transfigured into pots and things first of course. But if you knew that you could reverse it I suppose."

"We've got him," Scrimgeour said, his eyes glinting. "We've nailed that wriggly bastard. I fucking knew it. I've wanted his head on his own block for a long time."

"We're not done here," Amelia snarled, banging her boot on the floor. "I want everything. Did you bring the vials?"

"Got them right here," Scrimgeour said, holding up several glass vials.

"Good. Will you consent to having your memories taken?" Amelia asked Libra.

Libra nodded reluctantly. "I will."

"Good. Now, tell us the rest. What of Lucius Malfoy?"

"I...I saw them. They were in the barn. I had snuck out of the house to peek in through a crack in the wall. They had said they were bringing muggles, and I wanted to see them kill them. I...I wanted to be one. A Death Eater. Like my father, like my brother was. I thought...I thought if I became one, I would get my magic and I could be like everyone else. I was a girl, a stupid, foolish child who didn't…" Libra broke down and wept, and I held her, stroking her hair and rocking slightly. I felt numb. In six years of marriage, this had never come up. What sort of a bad husband was I?

"I'm sorry," Libra hiccuped. "I'm sorry I never told you. I just… I was afraid. If you know what sort of a monster you had married, would you even still want me?"

"Of course," I said, pulling back and looking Libra in the eyes. "You're not that same person anymore. You haven't been for decades. You've been washed by the Blood and forgiven. That's all dead and buried now."

"I can still hear them," Libra whispered. "In my dreams. In the very worst nightmares, it isn't my brother who comes for me. It's that little girl and her mother. They're dead, and they knew I saw them die. That I never tried to save them."

"You were a nine year old little girl against some of the most evil and powerful wizards in history. Even if you'd been the strongest witch of all time, there was literally nothing you could have done to save that wouldn't have just resulted in you dying with them," I said firmly.

Libra nodded, but looked away. "I want to believe that. But...but I should have done something."

"I watched my first partner die," Moody said, stomping over. Everyone looked up at him, save for Scrimgeour, who suddenly looked away, grimacing and wiping at his eyes. "She was beautiful. Smart. Fast. Good with a wand. Ursula had everything."

"But we got ambushed. That's where I lost this," Moody stomped his leg. "Got blown off before I could react. Ursula dragged me away, hid me under her invisibility cloak. Then she went off to face them. There were too many. She got one, I think. Can't tell with those masked bastards. They blew her fucking head off. Brains splattered on the cloak. I had lost a lot of blood. Was barely conscious. My wand was broken. Nothing I could have done except get myself killed. I know that. Rufius knows that. But I saw his mother die, and did nothing. "

"It wasn't your fault, Alastor," Scrimgeour said in a pained voice, his face hidden behind his hand. "She knew that. I know that. I forgave you a long time ago, or you wouldn't be one of my most trusted Senior Aurors."

"I bloody well know that. But I still wake up with the screamers. Everytime I see her, she asks me why. Not always with her voice, sometimes, just with her eyes. Why she died, and I lived. But I know why. Because she was a bloody hero and saved a dumb young recruit from Grindelwald's Storm Wizards. I lived to fight another day, but she didn't. And it wasn't my fault. It was theirs. And I was a full bloody auror all of 22 years of age. You, young lady, were a scared little girl. And it wasn't Storm Wizards, it was your own family. How could you have acted against them?"

"I couldn't have," Libra said, burying her head in her hands. "But how can I tell them that when I can still see their dead eyes? I peeked in, and Lucius was standing over them. There were others with masks on. Father. Bellatrix Lestrange. Others I didn't know. And...him. Voldemort. He was there. And Lucius Malfoy was standing in front of them, bare chested and with a drawn wand before a weeping mother and her child. It was...oh god. It was Livia Malfoy. She was just like me!"

Libra burst into tears again, and I tried to comfort her, confused. Who was Livia Malfoy?

"So she didn't die in an accident," Amelia Bones said grimley. "That fucking cunt. His own bloody sister and her kid. You're certain?"

"They said her name. It was Bellatrix, that's how I recognized her. She said, 'Well Lucius, here's your filthy bitch. What will you do with her now, in the presence of our Lord?'"

"Then, Livia spoke. 'Lucius, please, I've done all you asked! Anthony, he didn't do anything! Please, Dorothy, she could be like you, she could be a real-'"

"Lucius hit her with a spell, I don't remember what, but Livia was on the ground, bleeding and weeping, clutching her daughter. She...she was James' age. Two, or three. I'm not sure."

"I heard...I heard Voldemort speak. He told my brother to do it, and to take his place as his servant. Lucius didn't say anything, just stood, breathing hard. Then he raised his wand. 'Tell the Truth! You were a changeling, a plant, you were never one of us!'"

Libra's face was wet with tears, her voice trembling as she continued her morbid tale.

"'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm not a Malfoy now! But Dorothy, she could be! She could be like you. Please, please Lucy, if you must kill me do it, but don't kill my baby!'"

"He raised his wand, his back to me. And I knew. He was going to kill her. He was going to kill her, and the baby. I turned and fled, but I stopped at the house to look back. There was a flash of green light, and Dorothy stopped crying, and Livia stopped pleading. They were dead."

"That night, I realized the truth. I had to have magic. Because if I didn't, my own family would do the same thing to me that Livia's did to her."

"Did you see him kill them?" Amelia demanded. "Did you see it done?"

Libra shook her head. "No. Just the flash."

"Did you hear the spells cast?" Scrimgeour demanded. "Could you identify who cast them by voice?"

"No. Livia and Dorothy...they were crying too loudly. I never saw or heard anything else, aside from what my brother said."

Amelia put up her hand, and Scrimgeour quieted down. "Thank you, Mrs. Murphy. What you've told us is extremely helpful. We're going to take those memories down, where they will be submitted as evidence in the upcoming trial. However, you are still likely to be called in to testify. You understand that, yes?"

"I...I understand," Libra agreed, looking away.

"Very good. Shacklebolt, if you would," Amelia ordered.

Kingsley stepped forward, using his wand to extract the memories from Libra's forehead and storing them in bottles.

Everyone stood to go, but before she left, Amelia hugged Libra. "Thank you. I've wondered about the death of my brother's wife for a long time. To finally be able to put that case to rest, it means a great deal to me. Thank you for doing the right thing."

They all left save for Moody, who nodded to us. "I'll give the two of you a few moments of privacy."

Libra slumped back down into the couch, her gaze unfocused and distant. I sat down next to her, and she leaned into me. "Are you angry?"

"I'm mad as hell," I said, my voice trembling. "That monster. He killed...he killed that woman and her child. Your brother! He...he bragged about that? That's...that's monstrous."

Libra blinked and looked at me. "No, I mean, are you angry at me?"

Now it was my turn to blink in confusion. "Why on earth would I be angry at you?"

"I lied to you," Libra whispered, turning away and hugging herself. "I never told you anything."

Carefully, I put my hand on Libra's back. She flinched, but didn't pull away, seeming to sag listlessly.

"Libra, you were abused as a child. Horrifically. Even worse than Harry in so, so many ways. You saw and heard things that were deeply damaging. I'm not mad at you. How could I be? I'm sad that you felt like you couldn't tell me these things because you were afraid I'd reject you, but I'm not angry at you. I...well, I knew what I was getting into. I knew you had some skeletons in your closet. I heard your nightmares. I saw what you were afraid of. I didn't think...I never realized how deep the scars were. If I'm mad at someone who isn't a murdering raping bastard, it's myself for not being there for you."

Libra started crying again and flung herself onto me. I found myself crying too. This was just...I mean, she hadn't been my wife then, I hadn't even existed in so, so many ways. But what she had been through, what she had seen? Dear God. I hoped I'd never have to witness something like that.

"You're amazing, you know," I whispered. "You're so brave, so strong. How could you keep going, having seen what you saw? Knowing that the people who should have loved and protected you were instead out to get you? But you did. You persevered. You thrived. Even with no a single person in the world you help you, you were still full of love and kindness seeking to help other children."

"I was a fraud," Libra sniffled. "I didn't do it because I loved them. I did it because I felt so guilty that I hadn't been there for Dorothy and Rebecca."

"Hey, stop it," I said, taking Libra by the shoulders and peering into her eyes. "Maybe you did feel guilty. But you were no fraud. If it was just guilt, you never would have been there for Harry and me like you were. You helped because you cared. You risked everything. Not because it was easy or you felt bad for us, but because you loved us. Or are you saying you didn't love us then?"

"I...I don't know. I thought I did, I think I do, but sometimes...sometimes I wonder if it's all real, if you're not just pretending, if I'm not pretending, if this is all a sham," Libra said, looking away from me.

I snorted. "That's my line. Only one of us traveled through time and space to this mad, mad world. And I still would do it all again, just to fall in love with you."

Libra started hiccuping and I handed her some tissues from my pocket. Old habit as a year 1 teacher: always carry something for runny noses or you see kids eat a lot of boogers.

"I'm sorry. I know...I know you love me, and that I love you and Harry. I just...I'm afraid."

"This isn't something we can resolve overnight," I said gently. "This is...well, you went through hell. And those scars don't rub off. But whenever this comes back, I'll be there for you, OK? You don't have to say anything, just...just know I'll be there, OK?"

"Alright," Libra agreed, looking up at me and trying to smile. "You have helped, you know. God, more than I can say. There were nights when the only reason I could sleep is I knew you were there beside me."

We sat together a while longer. We prayed, together, asking God for healing and grace, and asking for peace for the souls of those poor women from so long ago. But it was what Libra asked for at the end that hit me so hard I bawled like a baby.

"And God, please, forgive my brother. Somehow...somehow help him to change. To turn away from his sin. I love him, and once, I think he loved me. I just...I know he can be good, Lord. Please. Help him change. Help him come back to the light."

I don't deserve her. Never have.


	41. Chapter 41

Shockingly, Music Club was canceled that night while Libra and I went home to be with our children. We didn't talk about what had been said that night, but we tucked our children into bed and held them tight.

The next morning, the paper looked a little different.

"The Mum Who Lived," I read, picking up the copy of the Daily Prophet and showing it to Libra. "Looks like you're famous now."

Libra groaned, but took a look at her own paper.

 _ **THE-MUM-WHO-LIVED: THE DARING EXPLOITS OF THE WOMAN WHO DEFIED HER OWN FAMILY TO SAVE THE-BOY-WHO-LIVED.**_

 _By Saffron Scrivener_

 _The case of Libra Macnair is an infamous one: long rumored to be a victim of her own family's heinous exploits for nothing more than being born a squib. Rumors have abounded that she was killed by her father, Wachusett Macnair, her brother, Walden Macnair, or even her own mother, Lyra Macnair nee Rookwood. But the truth, thankfully, is that in a rare moment of compassion, her own mother hid her away in the muggle world. Well, hid is perhaps a generous overstatement: she was lied to and abandoned by her mother in a church for no crime other than existing._

 _Knowing full well that if she was discovered by her family or those who shared their allegiance to You-Know-Who she would be killed, Libra hid for 15 years. One can only imagine the fear and loneliness she experienced. She had been raised as a pureblooded witch, with no knowledge of the muggle world. Somehow she not only survived, but found within her own heart care and compassion. Instead of hiding under a rock, Libra became a social worker, helping children in need, and keeping an eye out for any children who might be in danger of her own wretched fate._

 _In 1986 however, her fate was forever altered. Due to a series of events that will be covered in our forthcoming news expose, Libra found Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, in her office one day. He had suffered terribly, but had been rescued from a horrific fate by a kindly muggle man named David Murphy. Despite not knowing the truth of Harry's nature, and being a bachelor, David had taken the young boy into his own home and committed to raise Harry._

 _Knowing that the same enemies who had pursued her all her life would be after Harry, one can imagine that Libra's first impulse would have been to flee or to dismiss Harry, as being associated with him could only add to her own danger. Instead, she offered to help. She informed Mr. Murphy of the dangers surrounding herself and Harry, and that Harry was fated for a dark and terrible destiny. Most men would have fled, but Mr. Murphy was strengthened in his own conviction to aid Harry._

 _Together, David and Libra attempted to prepare Harry for the dangers he would face upon re-entering the wizarding world. During this time, they grew close to one another, and married. Libra is now Libra Murphy, and has four wonderful children, including Harry. The Murphys lived abroad for many years, hiding away from those who would endanger their family._

 _But this did not content our heroine. She knew that her family and their allies were still a threat to not only her son, but also to muggles and wizards everywhere. The Murphys returned to Britain, and David Murphy took up the Muggle Studies Professorship at Hogwarts, where he is an immensely popular professor and beloved by his students,despite having been in the job for less than a month._

 _For her part, Libra not only contacted the authorities, resulting in the arrests of Lyra Macnair, Walden Macnair, and Lucius Malfoy (see Page 2, ARRESTS IN THE MINISTRY), but is also a surrogate mother to many of our own children at Hogwarts. She continues as a social worker, taking care of first years who are away from home for the first time, assisting young girls with the difficulties of growing into a woman, and taking with muggleborn parents about the future their child is now a part of._

 _As for her eldest son, Harry Potter-Murphy dotes upon his mother, and rightly views her as his savior and personal hero. Truly, we should be grateful that such an amazing woman has not only returned triumphant to the wizarding world, but is spending her days not with her own young children, but with all of the children of magical Britain, caring for and loving them just as if they were her own._

 _I, for one, I grateful for the sacrifices this brave woman has made, and pray that she and her family will be safe from the many enemies her courage and wisdom must make for her._

"Oh hell, they make me seem like some sort of saint," Libra muttered, covering her face in embarrassment.

"I think they downplay it a bit much. Didn't even talk about how beautiful you are," I told her, reaching over and squeezing her shoulder.

Libra slapped at me, but she giggled while she did it. "I suppose Walden and mother have been arrested as well. Let's see what that says."

 **ARRESTS IN THE MINISTRY**

 _By_ _Vera Fiable_

 _Yesterday the Ministry was in an uproar when a force of the most senior aurors arrested not only Walden Macnair, well known as the Headsman, but his mother Lyra Macnair, and Lucius Malfoy. In a sudden raid, all three suspects were caught up while at the Ministry on normal business._

 _The reason for the arrests were made readily apparent: The murders of Thomas Potter, Annita Bones and her infant son Nathan Bones, and the murder of Livia Malfoy and her infant daughter Rachel. These murders all took place prior to 1971, and have been open cases in the Department of Magical Law enforcement for decades._

" _New information has come to light," Minister for Magic Amelia Bones stated in a press release. "We have eyewitness testimony and memories that prove the involvement of these parties. Evidence was also given that the imperious was used by the perpetrators, ruling out their old defense that they were under the same curse by [You-Know-Who]."_

 _The suspects were not available for questioning at press time, but sources say that the witness is none other than Libra Murphy nee Macnair, the sister and daughter, respectively, of two of the accused. What this new evidence will turn up is anyone's guess, but this reporter would not be surprised if Azkaban soon has three new inmates._

"YOU BITCH!"

All eyes turned to the Slytherin table, where a very distraught Pyxis Macnair was struggling against three of her housemates. "YOU BITCH! I SHOULD HAVE MURDERED YOUR PET MUGGLE! I'LL-" she was cut off by Snape, who stood, slashing his wand in the air and then striding forward to grab the girl by the collar to haul her away.

At the same table, Draco was visibly shaking, not with anger, but with fear. Tears formed on his face, and he stood and fled the hall, with his two thuggish companions in tow. In contrast, Wendell Macnair sat stunned, holding the paper in his hands, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Someone should really see to them," I whispered to Remus. "Why didn't anyone do anything?"

"The Headmaster was extremely unwell last night, and the Headmistress is gone, probably to deal with this," Remus said quietly. "This is the first word of this we have, Macnair and Malfoy must have been arrested late last night."

"I'll see to the Macnair boy," Wilcox said, standing to go over to Wendel. "He's talked with me on occasion."

Aurora stood as well. "I'll take care of Malfoy. He seems to enjoy astronomy and we've talked."

For his part, Remus stood and went over to talk with his Gryffindors. Kraughterman who had been a Slytherin went over to that house, while Sprout and Flitwick went to speak with theirs. Most of the other students didn't seem to be nearly as upset by the news, and there was a lot of noisy chatter amongst the students once the Professors returned. Harry in particular was getting swarmed with other student who were all demanding to talk to him, until, off all people, Lavender Brown stood up and started yelling at them.

"You leave Harry alone! He's just found out his relatives all want to murder him! Go away, let him think!" she then turned and patted Harry on the back and said something, pointing to the head table. Harry bowed his head, then stood and came over to Libra and me.

"Mum, are you OK?" Harry asked.

Libra forced a smile, her eyes had dark shadows under them from a lack of sleep. "I'm much better now, thank you. Your father and I will get through this, don't worry. Just focus on your school work."

"Ok," Harry agreed. "I love you, alright?" he gave Libra an awkward hug with the whole school watching, and when he turned to go I patted him on the back.

"You did good, kid."

Harry smiled, then hurried back to sit down with Ernie and Lavender. Were they the new Ron and Hermione? I couldn't tell. Ernie seemed like a decent, hard working kind of kid but he didn't really have any stand out characteristics aside from a good attitude far as I could tell. Lavender was a bit of an airhead and social butterfly. She'd fixated on Harry it seemed, but I was pretty sure it was mostly because he was famous. Maybe she was in Hufflepuff for loyalty? I had no idea.

As Libra and I were leaving the great hall, Lavender came up with another girl. I vaguely recognized her from the sorting, but couldn't remember if she was Abbott or Bones.

"Mrs. Murphy?" Lavender said. "Susan wanted to talk to you."

Bones then. The girl came up, looking a bit nervous. "I just wanted to say thank you. We never knew how my aunt Annita died. My father always wondered what happened to uncle Gideon's wife. Well, they would be my second cousins I guess, but that's how father always talks about them. Anyway, thank you. I wanted to say that."

"You're welcome," Libra said, reaching out to give the girl a quick hug. "It wasn't easy, but I'm glad it brought someone peace."

"Yeah. My Great Aunt Amelia will probably give you an order of Merlin or something. If she doesn't, you tell her I think you deserve one."

Libra flinched. "They don't...squibs can't get the order of Merlin, love."

Susan flushed and looked down, but Lavender harrumphed and put her hands on her hips. "Well that's rubbish! You did something great! Maybe even as cool as Lockhart! You deserve at least a second class, if not a ought to change the law."

"I dare say that my wife is a lot braver than that Miles Gloriosus," I said dryly.

Lavender frowned at me. "Miles Glorioso? What's that?"

"Look it up. Ask one of the Ravenclaws. Then, try making a timeline of all of Lockhart's 'deeds' and see what you turn up. Might surprise you," I suggested. "Or better yet, ask Professor Lupin and Auror Moody if they think Lockhart is a Miles Gloriosus and see what they have to say."

"I don't like Auror Moody; he's scary," Lavender said with a shiver. "Professor Remus is very dashing though. His scars are quite handsome. I'll ask him. Oh, and Professor Murphy, will there be a movie tomorrow night? Everyone wants to know what with music club being cancelled and all."

"There will be a movie," I confirmed. "Hermione put in the review of Robin Hood, it will be out today with the evening Hogwarts Gazette."

"Yes!" Lavender cheered. "Come on Susan, we've got to tell everyone! Ohh, this is the best tidbit I've gotten in a while!"

Class that day was... interesting.

"Alright, you will have five minutes to ask me whatever you want at the end of the period," I said when the class began. "However, every time I take away points, I'll take away time from the Q&A session. Asking me questions not related to class before then will result in the session being canceled. Any questions?"

Sadly, no one was dumb enough to raise their hand and I didn't end up taking any points, so I got grilled. The first question was the obvious one.

"Are you really a muggle?"

I sighed. "Yes, I am, in fact, a muggle. I am deeply disappointed in all of you that you didn't figure this out before hand, as the whole point of this class is learning about muggles."

"But...you're just like everyone else."

"Muggles are not aliens or magical creatures. They're just people like you, save that instead of magic, they use technology. There is no physiological difference between muggles and wizards, only a cultural one. Next question. "

"If you're a muggle, how'd you get to be Harry Potter's adoptive father?"

"The full story of how I adopted a young wizard will be in the forthcoming series of articles by the Quibbler and Daily Prophet, and I'd hate to steal their thunder. I will say that I was his teacher when he was five and that's how I met him."

"Weren't you afraid of magic? I mean, you didn't know about it before, did you?"

"No, I didn't know about it. Yes, I was afraid. However, as you will all learn someday, parenthood is terrifying. Life is scary in general. Magic is shocking and weird, but it isn't any scarier than the thought we could all be obliterated in nuclear fire or that a gamma ray burst could wipe out all life on earth or a comet could impact and cause a major extinction event."

"What was...all of that? What's a new-clear fire or a gamma day burst? I think I know what a comet is but how could that cause an extinction event?"

Wow. I mean, wizards did live in their own little bubble, but come on.

"I think those are topics for another day. Let's just say that the muggle world is a lot more dangerous and frightening than you may think, and less so than you would fear. Yes?"

"Did you know your wife broke the Statue of Secrecy?"

That brought me up short. "She didn't," I finally said. "Harry used accidental magic and I figured out something was up. Just because I'm muggle doesn't mean I'm thick. And trust me, a whole lot of muggles are very suspicious that magic is real and that there is a cover up. They might call it aliens or a government conspiracy or the illuminati or psychic energy or demons, but they know. Just like me. I'd always believed in miracles. Magic is just another name for it."

"Were you ever attacked by Death Eaters?"

"We were attacked by a wizard once," I said quietly. "It was, perhaps, the most terrifying moment of my life. We were saved by the actions of Albus Dumbledore and Sirius Black."

That was barely, almost technically true. From a certain point of view. Geeze, I was turning into Obi-Wan.

"Do you think You-Know-Who is coming back? Some people say he's gone for good, but I've heard rumors that he isn't."

"Voldemort will return," I said. That got gasps of shock and a few whimpers of fear. I shook my head. "Do not fear him, he is only a man. A powerful man, yes, but only a man. If you deny him the power base of ignorance and prejudice that he had the last time, he will never again cause such terror. That, in fact, is why I am here. To educate you all in the realities of the muggle world. So that you realize that blood doesn't matter. Magic doesn't matter. We're all people, and we're in this together. Fear of muggles and muggleborns is what gave Voldemort his power, and I intend to rob him of it."

That actually sounded pretty good, and I realized as I said that it was true. That was why I was here, even if I hadn't said it out loud like that before.

"Did Libra Macnair, sorry, Mrs. Murphy, did her family really try to kill her?"

"I'm sure you've all heard that my niece attempted to hex me in the halls. She did so at the orders of her father. I'm fairly certain that Walden Macnair and other Death Eaters like Lucius Malfoy would like nothing more than to kill my wife, my children, and myself. I also have no reason to doubt my wifes claims. I've seen the impact it's left on her. Frankly, it doesn't surprise me, what with the prejudices people have about squibs, muggleborn, and muggles. Here's a question for you, and it's homework. Why do you think some people are squibs, some people are muggleborn, some people are muggles, some are half bloods, and some are purebloods? Why do some have magic, and others not? What are the causes?"

I walked to the board and wrote on it, "Why do some have magic, and others not? What is the difference?"

"Two pages at least, no more than five. There is no right or wrong answer here, I want to know what you think. I'll tell you the real answer when we return to class."

That caused a lot of skepticism. "You know why some people have magic and some don't?"

I nodded. "I do. Muggles have known why people have certain traits for decades. Hell, we've understood heredity for more than a century. We'll make that the topic of our next class. Time for one more question."

"Why didn't you try run away or worse when you found out Harry Potter had magic? I thought muggles were supposed to hate and fear magic."

I shrugged. "Because I loved him a lot more than I hated or feared magic. To be fair, I don't like magic very much because I don't understand it, though I don't hate it or people who have it. I'm more than a little jealous I suppose, but that's very different. I think you would find most muggles wouldn't hate or fear you if you were more honest with them. Most of them, like me, would probably just find it cool. Class dismissed. If you have further questions, you can try and find me during a free period and we can talk."

A lot of students, both those in my class and not, approached me over the course of the next two days about being a muggle. Apparently, a lot of them had a hard time believing it as they'd never met a muggle before.

"Well, you know, I've seen them, but never talked to one before. You're supposed to be, I dunno, mad or something. But you're just normal, professor."

That sentiment got echoed over and over again. I was really shocked at how many of the pureblooded students really had never talked with a muggle before. Even a number of halfbloods who had muggleborn parents had extremely limited contact with muggles in general. I was something of a curiosity, and it wasn't that much fun, though I did try to be patient and kind with the students.

Pyxis and Wendell stayed out of my way, and while Draco got in trouble for harassing Harry, there weren't any really bad incidents. It seemed the staff and prefects were keeping a close eye on things, which was only for the good.

Saturday evening, I walked into the classroom I had used as a theater to find it was easily three times the size it had been the week before. I stood there, feeling baffled and dazed until of all people, Snape showed up.

"Professor Murphy, I need to- what? Is something wrong?" he drew his wand, looking around the classroom as I blankly stared at it.

"It's bigger," I said lamely. "How could it be bigger? It sat around 100 last time, but I've counted the damn seats, and there are now at least 385. I don't get it."

Snape sighed and holstered his wand. "Murphy, this is a magical castle. If the classroom needs to be bigger, it shall be. The castle will simply adjust things until it is the right size. From the way you were looking, I thought there was another dead body."

"ANOTHER DEAD BODY?" I half shrieked. "Where, how-"

"It's usually Peeves playing a prank," Snape said calmly. "Or one of the ghosts. Ask the Bloody Baron there to take care of it if he bothers you, or call myself."

I glanced around. "But we're the only ones here."

"The ghosts are sitting in the front row, being rather loud. If you cannot perceive them, it is only because you are simply a muggle. But that is not what I wished to talk to you about."

"I want to go back about it 'usually' being a prank when you find a dead body."

"Murphy, this is a thousand year old castle. It was not originally designed as an institute of education, and it is magical in nature. Such things happen."

"Christ what the hell is wrong with you people," I muttered.

"Regardless, I needs must speak with you," Snape said.

I sighed and turned toward Snape. "Alright, what happened?"

"So far, nothing. I only wished to warn you. Pyxis is set on attacking you. I have seen this."

I blinked, then nodded slowly. "You read her mind? Or rumors?"

"Both. She blames you and your wife for landing her father in jail. However, she is under orders from her grandmother not to assault your wife. For now, I believe this will hold."

I shrugged. "Well, as long as she doesn't get creative it won't be a problem. I'm immune to magic, remember?"

"I highly doubt you are immune to having all the air sucked out of your lungs causing them to collapse, or to having a large object impact your skull at a high velocity," Snape said evenly. "She will wish to be creative. However, it is of equal import that she not discover your odd nature. Be cautious. I suggest we speak to the Headmaster and partner you with another professor for your patrols. I am willing to volunteer myself, and I am certain you can convince Lupin to do the same."

"You...would be willing to give up your free time to help me?" I asked incredulously. "Are we going to be like, buddies or something?"

"We are colleagues working toward a mutually desirable outcome. Friendship does not enter into this equation," Snape snapped, his tone acid. "Your son would be distraught to lose a father again."

I nodded slowly. "Well, you might not think that makes you my friend, but I do." I held out my hand. "Thanks."

Snape eyed my hand like it was a bear trap, but with a visible effort he took the hand and gingerly pumped it once before dropping it. "I shall speak to the Headmaster then."

"Thanks. I appreciate it. Though honestly, I'm more worried about Libra. I have immunity to fall back on, she's got nada, and if the girl's anything like my dear brother-in-law, she's going to think murder is the optimum solution."

"I will ensure nothing happens to your wife. Let us say that I have some sympathy for those who grew up in hostile homes." With that, Snape turned on his heel and left. I frowned, then turned around.

"Hey, if there are any ghosts in here, please make sure there are no dead bodies. And no talking during the movie!" I didn't get a response, but it sort of made me feel better. Also: completely nuts.

The expanded room was packed to the gills with students. I had house elves running back and forth to provide popcorn for everyone and we ran out twice even with supply runs. I was actually paying them (one knut apiece which was basically working for free) and the elves seemed to sort of accept that as a mad muggle I just didn't understand the nature of things. It had actually taken Dobby talking to them for them to take any pay at all, though I was hoping we could work out more.

Libra brought the kids as well, as they all loved Robin Hood. The students didn't seem to like this one quite as much as Ferris Bueller, but it was still very popular. At the end of the movie we held elections for officers to select the movies we'd watch. Interestingly the majority of them ended up being purebloods, including our club President Percy Weasley. I wasn't sure if he just wanted to pad out his resume or what, but he'd given an interesting talk about helping to make the projector with his father and everyone seemed to think that qualified him somehow. I did get a few muggleborns who immediately started to put in requests for certain movies, and I let my half a dozen officers (including a very nervous Hermione) debate what they wanted to see.

There were the expected requests for movies like Star Wars, Terminator 2, Hot Shots, Die Hard, Home Alone, all the recent popular stuff from the crowd of kids as they left. However, Percy came up with a pretty neat idea.

"Personally, I'd like to see something that deals with how muggles perceive magic," Percy said after the other students had left (save for the quiet Hermione). "Are there any movies about how muggles view magic?"

"Yeah, a few. There's movies like The Neverending Story," our Treasurer Micah Goldman suggested.

"Or the Wizard of Oz," Francine Baker, the Secretary, suggested. "Though the wizard in that one is a fraud."

Percy shook his head. "No, I'd prefer something that deals with actual witches and wizards and what the muggles think of them."

"What about Bedknobs and Broomsticks?" Hermione suggested, ducking back behind her parchment when everyone looked at her.

"Actually that's a pretty good one," Vice President Gertrude Prewett agreed. She was Percy's second cousin or something, although she was a Ravenclaw she had the same red hair. "I saw that at my cousins' house one Christmas. It's about a witch who uses magic to save England from the Nazi's."

"What's a not-see?" Quartermaster Clarence Hopkins asked.

"They were some German muggles who bombed London in the 40s," Percy said with an air of someone who is very informed. "It was called the Bliz."

"You mean the Blitz," Francine corrected. "I think I saw that one once. It's alright."

"Is it more animated drawings or people?" Clarence asked.

"Both," Francine said with a shrug.

"Can you get that one, Professor?" Percy asked.

I nodded. "Probably. Your father has some contacts in the theater business now so he can ask around. However, it will likely take a while to obtain. I have in stock Star Wars Episode IV, Princess Bride, Beauty and the Beast, The Sting, and Ben Hur."

"Oooo can we do Ben Hur?" Micah asked. "That's supposed to be the greatest movie ever. And it has Charlton Heston in it. He was in loads of good movies, like Planet of the Apes."

"What's it about?" Gertrude asked. "I never saw that one, only some old kid movies at my cousins."

"It's a historical epic," Hermione put in. "It follows the life and adventures of Judah Ben-Hur and is centered around how his life connects with Jesus of Nazareth. It has some really famous action scenes like the chariot races."

"That one sounds good. We'd best pick out several movies so Professor Murphy has time to get them," Percy suggested.

In the end we decided to do Ben-Hur, then Star Wars, followed by Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Longest Day, Planet of the Apes, Beauty and the Beast, and Ghostbusters. I thought it was a pretty solid lineup for now, and the officers were eager to see the reaction of the other students (or in some cases, just to see more movies).

It was dark when Libra and I walked home together, with Harry and the other kids running ahead.

"Snape told me Pyxis is out for blood," I told her quietly as we walked hand in hand. "We'll have to tell Harry to keep a sharp lookout. And I'm worried about you."

"I'll be fine," Libra told me, giving me a wan smile. "I won't be around the castle much for the next few weeks. The trial starts on Monday."

"I wish I could come with you," I said. "But it just isn't possible. London's too far."

"I'll be alright. Molly Weasley will be there with me for moral support, and I'll be surrounded by aurors. Nothing will happen. I'm more concerned about what Pyxis may try on you and Harry."

"She tries anything on me and I'll deal with it. She touches one hair on Harry's head and I'll see her expelled if its the last thing I do," I vowed.

Libra hesitated. "I don't know David. She, well, she's me. Me if I had been given magic. She looks so much like I did at that age, and her arrogant attitude is every inch the one I had when I was a girl."

"Maybe, but that doesn't change that I won't tolerate a threat to this family," I vowed.

"She is family too, David. And if I was saved, what about her?"

That brought me up short, and I hung my head. "Sometimes I forget that you were ever not a Christian, because you're a far better one than I am."

"Only because I remember being vindictive and hateful. You're too good of a man to have ever been like that, David."

I blushed but shook my head. "I was a real jerk when I was a teenager. Fine. I'll try and give my niece a chance. But only one. God is merciful, but that doesn't mean we should lay down with vipers."

"I think perhaps that's why we're here, David. To go into the vipers den and save those poor lost souls," Libra told me quietly.

"Well I'll pray that Pyxis and all the other lost pureblood lambs come to Jesus," I agreed while mentally writing most of them off.

In hindsight, I think I probably should have been a bit more careful what I wished for.


	42. Chapter 42

The Trial was in all the papers, and just saying "The Trial" was enough for everyone to know what you were talking about. Libra came home and wept each night, emotionally drained and worn out from having to testify. Thankfully, there were no Dementors in the courtroom, but things were pretty bad for Libra anyway.

On the first day, they put Libra on the stand, where she had to relive all her worst memories once more. She had to recount each and every episode of Muggle Baiting she remembered the Knights of Walpurgis going on when she was young, along with the names of every member. Henry Goyle and Lawrence Crabb were also arrested, Henry being the father of Gregory Goyle and Lawrence Crabb the uncle of Vincent Crabb. There was no proof that they'd actually killed anyone, but they were brought up on charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to violate the Statute of Secrecy, and collusion with a Dark Lord.

The papers continued to sing Libra's praises. Even Rita Skeeter, who actually did a hilarious 180 on the subject. _Inside the Life of a Pureblood Squib_ was an article she wrote that cast Libra as some sort of Pollyanna who had been mercilessly abused all her life but had succeeded in bringing back the Boy-Who-Lived from the brink of death, implied Libra had single-handedly defeated a Death Eater in combat, and slain the jabberwocky and saved all of Narnia. Well, that last bit I made up, but it would have fit with the theme.

However, I drew the goddamn line when Dobby reported a suspicious beetle hanging out in our house, and the next day an article was published about my three youngest, specifically praising Sarah's display of accidental magic when she'd made a sausage fly out the window. The only way that damned snoop would have known is if she were spying on my family.

"If that happens again, put her in this," I ordered Dobby, holding up a bottle Remus had helpfully enchanted to be unbreakable. "Then give the thing to James to play with. I'll have a 'chat' with her when I come home."

"Dobby will make sure nasty Skeeter person isn't spying on young mistresses and master, Sir Boss Man," Dobby vowed.

"Dobby, for the last time, I work for a living. Just David or Mr. Murphy is fine."

"Yes, Sir Mr David Murphy Boss Man."

I groaned, but didn't belabor the point any further. I was pretty sure by now Dobby was doing it on purpose. I suppose for only a galleon a month for childcare I could put up with it.

The second day of the trial came, and no sooner than it was over, Libra collapsed into my arms, sobbing. We were in the Headmaster's office to use his floo, and I held her, trying to console her.

"It will be alright, they'll be locked away forever," I comforted Libra.

"No, they won't!" Libra sobbed, clutching my robes. "David, he confessed to all of it! Claimed to have killed Anita and Livia and the baby and imperiused them both!"

"What?" I asked, confused.

A moment later, Molly Weasley stepped out of the floo, red faced and eyes flashing in anger. "That greasy, slimy, son of a BITCH! Oh, sorry love, not your mother- that Malfoy man! I cannot believe it!"

"Can't believe what?" I asked, kneeling and rubbing Libra's back as I embraced her.

"Waldon claims to have done everything," Libra sniffed. "He says father kept mother imperioused or in terror of her life, and he continued the tradition. Says he killed every muggle they've found and all the others. He says he had Lucius under the Imperius the whole time. Then that bastard broke down sobbing and said he'd been forced to kill his own sister by Walden and Tom!"

"He's going to walk away scott free again!" Molly raged. "I have half a mind to get my own bloody wand and kill the man! I KNEW Livia! She was my FRIEND! The Prewetts and Malfoys got along back then, at least to a degree! Sweet Christ, did you know I had a crush on Lucius when I was a girl! I can't believe it, I feel sick to my stomach over the whole thing!"

The floo flared to life once more, and Amelia Bones stepped through. Libra hastened to her feet, but Molly rounded on the Minister for Magic.

"You're not going to let that man get away with this are you?" Molly demanded.

Amelia Bones grimaced and shook her head. "I can't have the bastard kissed like I wanted, but no, he's not getting away with this."

LIbra's hands shot to her mouth. "Walden, will he be-"

"He'll be dead within a week," the Minister said, her tone as chilled as the grave. "He's done too much, Mrs. Murphy. He killed my sister-in-law and my nephew. He's going to die."

Libra sniffed, sagging in my arms, but nodded. "I...I understand. If he lived, he'd always be a danger to my family. I just...once, he loved me. And I think I loved him too. He'll always be my older brother, in some ways."

Amelia's face gentled slightly, and she put a comforting hand on Libra's shoulder. "I know. I've had to do a great many things in my life that were terribly, terribly hard. The last war split even the Bones family. I had cousins on the other side. I killed one of them myself. Didn't even know who it was at the time, but that just made it all the more painful. The good news, I suppose, is that your mother will be spared. She'll be under house arrest and her wand will be broken, but she will escape the worst punishment for her crimes. I will say this for Walden: He is brave, and willing to sacrifice himself for others."

"I bloody well doubt that!" Molly said, stamping her foot. "Lucius probably bribed the bastard or threatened him. As for his mother, well, perhaps. But I think it more likely he just wanted to see the look on everyone's faces when he started describing what he did to all those poor women."

Libra looked green, and Amelia's face turned into a thunderhead. She turned to Dumbledore, who had remained silent with a grieved look on his face throughout the exchange. "Headmaster, I have need of the Malfoy boy. He is leaving."

"Leaving?" Dumbledore asked, his voice slightly tremulous. "But I thought his father was found innocent?"

"No, he wasn't," Amelia growled. "I'm not Millicent. No one's escaping justice this time. The Malfoy's are exiled and fined 50,000 galleons. They won't quite be destitute, but it's the maximum penalty I could assign under the law. I'm also seizing all their property in Britain and Ireland."

"Are you certain that is wise?" Dumbledore asked.

Amelia bristiled. "He is guilty! I can't prove it, but that bastard was a Death Eater! I fought him and he knows it, and he's not getting away with-"

Dumbledore held up a skeletal hand. "That is not what I am saying. Only that perhaps it would be best to keep him here, under your gaze."

"If that happened I'm not certain I wouldn't order a raid where he was 'accidentally' killed," Bones growled. "And I'm not willing to compromise my morals like that."

Dumbledore sighed and nodded. "Very well. I shall have Severus collect Draco and his things. When must he leave?"

"By sunrise tomorrow," Amelia said. "If he wishes to leave with his father that is."

"A rather swift decision for the Wizengamot," Dumbledore observed.

Amelia chuckled darkly. "Malfoy made the mistake of trying to bribe too many people. Once I made it clear that anyone associated with him would be punished in a similar fashion, everyone lept to distance themselves. I'll still have major inquiries, but perhaps I won't have to clean house as thoroughly as I thought. He was unanimously voted guilty and Podmore sentenced the man the way I told him to."

"Be wary you do not become a tyrant, Amelia," Dumbledore said softly. "Justice is great cause, but it must be tempered by mercy."

"Hence the exile, and not the Kiss," Amelia said. She turned around and gave Libra a sad smile. "Thank you again, Mrs. Murphy. I know this will be hard on you and your family. But you did the right thing."

With that, the Minister swept back out of the room in a flash of green flames.

"I'll let Snape know," I told Dumbledore. "You want me to send him to you?"

Dumbledore slumped in his seat and shook his head, obviously exhausted by the short exchange. "No, Severus can handle things. Please, go home David. Spend time with your loved ones and treasure it. Take Harry home as well. I think his mother will have need of him this night."

Harry did come home with us, holding Libra's hand most of the way back. Libra leaned slightly on Harry, talking softly with him and telling him how much she loved him. Harry smiled and made a few jokes, and things seemed alright. Padfoot and the kids were happy to have Harry home, but even Sarah could tell that something was off with their mother, who was quiet and distant throughout the evening.

That night Libra woke screaming twice. I held on to her as tight as I could, trying to comfort her and whispering prayers. She trembled all over, holding tight to me the entire night. The kids somehow managed to sleep through the whole thing, save for Harry. He didn't say or do anything, but I saw him with dark circles under his eyes the next morning.

Wednesday morning, Draco was gone. He'd left the castle in the middle of the night, and the papers headline read:

 **MALFOY FAMILY EXILED AFTER ASSOCIATION WITH MURDER OF OWN SQUIB**

 _ **By Saffron Scrivener**_

 _The Malfoy family has long been associated with the darker side of politics, and while they have often used the defense that they were forced or compelled to aide He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in the last war, it cannot be denied that this excuse has worn thin. Though decisive evidence could not be presented that Lucius Malfoy was responsible for the death of his own sister Livia Malfoy and her infant daughter, the Wizengamot ruled that this was one crime too many._

" _While this court cannot prove beyond a doubt the guilt of the parties involved, it is obvious that they had a long and willing association with Dark Wizards and either participated in or covered up many crimes. As such, Lucius Malfoy is fined a sum of 50,000 galleons to be paid as reparations to those affected by the war. His properties in Britain are to be seized by the court under suspicion of use as sites for dark and profane rituals. His wand is to be broken and the fragments destroyed. He is forever exiled from these isles, on pain of death or Azkaban."_

 _Lucius Malfoy was not available for comment, but sources say he and his wife and son, along with what few possessions they or their house elf could carry were last seen upon an airship departing for France, where several ancestral Malfoy properties can be found._

 _While some may claim that this was a harsh punishment indeed, many believe it was not strict enough, including respected Auror Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody._

" _The man is and was guilty of horrific crimes. Imperius Curse? I'll bet my remaining eye that [expletive] was responsible for placing more innocent people under the imperius curse than half the villains in Azkaban. He's an [expletive] son of a [expletive] who deserves worse than he got. The Wizengamot was too [expletives for several seconds] gentle by half. If had been up to me he'd have been Kissed and buried in a shallow grave, and you can bet that's better than he gave his own [expletive] sister and niece."_

 _The Minister was not available for comment, but her office released a statement that she was "-pleased that those responsible for some of the worst atrocities of the last war have at long last been brought to justice."_

 _As for the others on trial, Walden Macnair is scheduled to be executed on Saturday at Azkaban prison, where he has already been moved. His mother, Lyra Macnair, is now under house arrest and is no longer legally allowed to own a wand. While some may find the speed and rapidity with which these trials have moved to be shocking, this can all be attributed to the lengthy and obscene confession of Walden Macnair yesterday._

 _Walden Macnair confessed to a number of heinous crimes, including rape, torture, murder, high treason, dark magic, and attempted fratricide. His sister, the heroic Libra Murphy nee Macnair, had this to say:_

 __" _I forgive my brother, and can only pray that he will find the peace in the next life that has so long escaped him in this one."_

 _Such a woman, who is able to forgive even those would have attempted to take her life, and the lives of her husband and children, is an example of mercy and grace to us all. We can only hope she will pass such virtues on to her adoptive son, Harry Potter, who seems destined for greatness._

"What does it say?" Libra asked, keeping her nose buried in her cup of coffee.

"It says that you're the patron saint of mercy, your brother is scum, and that Lucius Malfoy got off easy," I paraphrased.

Libra huffed and set her cup down, finally looking up. "At least the trials are over."

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," I agreed. "But, er, sorry about your brother I guess."

"No you're not," Libra said, eyeing me.

"No I'm not," I admitted. "But it seemed like the right thing to say."

"I appreciate it and take it in the spirit it was given. But, David, I want to visit him. I want to try to at least save his soul before it's devoured."

"You want to go to Azkaban?" I asked, incredulous.

"Bloody well don't do it," Moody growled as he rose from his seat, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He spat on the floor. "Azkaban's the worst bloody place in the world, and I'm saying that as someone who's been in some damn awful places. You don't want to go there, Libra. Not for scum like your brother."

"He is still my brother, Alastor," Libra said quietly, not looking up from her plate. "Will you take me there, this evening? I won't want to stay long, but...someone should visit him before he's executed."

"Your bloody choice," Moody growled. He eyed me. "You going too?"

I flinched, but shook my head, toying with some eggs on my plate. "I... can't."

Moody snorted and turned away, but then paused and turned back. "What do you mean, can't?"

I shrugged. "Can't go. Or say more."

Moody eyed me thoughtfully, his magical eye still tracking around the hall. "You're not the sort of man who'd abandon his wife to the tender mercies of Azkaban, are you?"

Remus looked up from his own breakfast. "Leave the man alone, Alastor. He has his reasons."

"It's fine, I understand, don't worry about it," Libra said. She kissed me on the cheek and stood. "Wait for me?"

"I'll be there when you come back," I promised. "I wish I could go."

Libra smiled sadly at me and squeezed my hand, then left. Moody shook his head and stomped off as well, and I thought that was that, but it wasn't.

Right after breakfast, Moody cornered me in an out of the way corridor. "Explain yourself, Murphy. Why are you not going to Azkaban? Can't stomach the dementors? You're muggle. Won't even be able to see them, and they won't hardly affect you at all."

I tried to get around him. "I just... don't like flooing. That's all."

"I'll aparate you," Moody offered, blocking my path and sticking his face into mine. "She shouldn't have to face that place alone. She'll be worse affected than you, though she won't be able to see much more than shifting shadows. She could use your help. Or are you not a man at all?"

I blanched and looked away. "Hey, I don't like her going alone any more than you do, but she's got the right to go. I just...look, I can't go? Alright? At all." I pushed Moody to the side and stomped off, fuming and angry and guilty.

Something tugged at my pants legs as I went, and lifted my leg up and shook it, but nothing was there. I continued on, trying to outrace my own frustration. I glanced back, and saw Moody looking at me thoughtfully, tapping his remaining leg with his wand. Turning away again, I hurried to class with no further interruptions.

Once more, my students had a million questions and none of them exactly relevant to class. We had a much longer Q&A session this time, with everyone wanting to know more about Libra and her family.

"Look, the long and short of it is I don't know much about Libra's family history," I finally told them. "I know her brother was a jerk to me when I met him. I know just like you do, that he seems to want her and me and our kids dead, which is enough reason for me not to be broken up he's getting executed."

"Is Pyxis really going to kill you?" a Slytherin boy blurted out.

I sighed and shook my head. "Obviously I should hope not. I don't hold a grudge against her or Wendell. It's hard on them that they're losing their father and I can sympathise with them. Whatever has happened, it isn't their fault. They're victims in this just as much as my wife was. What if they had been squibs? What do you think would have happened to the both of them?"

The class went silent, and there was a lot of uncomfortable shuffling. I shook my head and took a seat up on my desk. "These beliefs that squibs are somehow a stain on family honor are a real problem. Do you have younger siblings? Would you stop loving them just because they turned out not to be magical? What about when you have children? Will you excommunicate and exile them or try to murder them when their Hogwarts letter never comes?"

No one spoke for a long time, then, the same Slytherin shook his head. "No. I mean...they'd still be the same person right? I'd be angry and sad, but that's more because I'd feel like I'd lost them. They'd have to go live in the muggle world."

"Why?" I asked.

"Well because muggles can't-" he stopped, flushing. "Oh. Sorry, Professor. I didn't mean you."

"But what makes me special?" I demanded. "What makes me different? Why is it fine for me to know and live in the magical world, but not your own family members?"

"Well, because of the Statue," Cho said. "They'd tell someone and violate it, right?"

"My wife told no one for 15 years. She would never have told anyone if I hadn't walked in with the most famous magical child in Britain asking about what the hell was going on," I answered. "Why do you think squibs would tell? And really, why do you think muggles are so dangerous to you?"

"Because of the Christians. They hate witches and wizards and want to kill us all. There were all those witch hunts, you know."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm a Christian, and yet somehow I've managed to restrain my supposedly natural impulses."

That brought a few mutters of surprise, but a Hufflepuff rolled her eyes. "Really? Have none of you noticed Harry and the Perks girl praying at meals? Or the professor and his wife praying?"

"I mean, I thought they were just thanking the house elves or something. Did you know they pay theirs? He goes about Hogsmeade talking about how he's a free elf or something."

"Yeah well I'm trying to make up for the fact that Dobby's people were slaughtered, brainwashed, enslaved, and made to forget their entire culture so that wizards could have free labor," I answered.

That got some angry mutters from the class, and I shrugged. "Don't believe me? Go look it up in the library. Don't bother talking to Binns. Personally, I don't think he even exists. That was a joke: I actually just can't see him. But the history of the house elves closely mirrors what happened to a large number of Africans during the period of the African Slave Trade. But I think we're far enough afield already. Don't forget, your homework this week is to write an essay on the typical school day of a muggle student. You have plenty of material in your textbooks, but feel free to ask my designated muggleborn tutors."

The students stood and left rapidly, chatting as they did so, but the Slytherin boy from earlier stayed behind.

"Yes, Douglas?" I said when he stayed in his chair looking down.

He finally looked up, a guilty expression on his face. "Wendell's my friend. He's, well, he's pretty broke up about all this. But his sister? She's going to try to kill you, professor. I just know it. She's been ranting to everyone about how you've got her father killed and you and your wife need to die."

I nodded. "Tell Snape if anything happens or if she goes quiet. I'll talk to him myself. Thank you, Douglas. I appreciate your honesty and courage."

Douglas stood and made as if to go, then whirled about and blurted, "You're a good professor, and a nice bloke. I'm sorry you're a muggle, because I think you're a decent person." The he hurried out, head down and robes swishing behind him.

I shook my head, then got up and headed to the Headmistress' office.

"Yes?" McGonagall said when I knocked on the doorframe. She looked up from her paperwork and nodded. "Come in, Professor Murphy."

"I'm sure someone's already talked to you, but Douglas Diggle just told me my niece is planning on murdering myself and my wife," I said, coming to stand in front of Minerva's desk.

Sighing, Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger and nodded. "No, but I assumed something was going to happen. Damnation. This entire affair is a tragedy and that girl is hellbent on just making it worse. Very well. I shall assign her detention with myself for the next three nights. We'll have a long talk, and if things don't improve I'm going to have to expel her. She's already attacked you once and I cannot tolerate such behavior being repeated."

"What would the Headmaster say about that?" I whispered, taking a seat in a nearby chair.

McGonagall shook her head and looked up. "I don't know. And I won't bring it before him unless I have to. David...He's not well. His mind is still there, but his body is failing. I think he's given up on life. He doesn't sleep, he does not eat, he rarely leaves his office. All he does is rub that damned rock of his."

"Do you know what it is?" I asked quietly.

McGonagall paused, eying me skeptically. "No. Do you?"

"I believe it's the Resurrection Stone. I told him its location, and warned him not to use it. He didn't listen."

"Damn that man for a stubborn fool," McGonagall growled, shaking her head. "Of course it is. Didn't he ever read those old stories? That thing is nothing but a trap."

"He thinks he can use it to help Harry," I said quietly, fidgeting with my keys. "I haven't been able to bring myself to tell him to stop."

"Help Harry how?" McGonagall asked.

I sighed. "You know his scar?" I asked, tracing a line on my forehead. "It's got a bit of Tom Riddle in it. Harry is what's keeping him anchored to this world. Well, along with that Diary we've never been able to find. Maybe it will turn up in the seized Malfoy properties but I doubt it. Dumbledore thinks the Stone might hold the key to removing the soul fragment. Without having to kill Harry first. "

"Good God." McGonagall leaned back in her chair, her hand over her mouth. We sat quietly for a long while, until McGonagall sighed and picked up the parchment she'd been working on. "Well, I have to agree with you. And Albus would certainly sacrifice his own life to save a student's. But I'm afraid that regardless, I have to get back to work. Albus doesn't have the strength to perform many of his duties, and while I don't resent him for it, I do wish he'd actually retire and get well. But the true Resurrection Stone...bah. It's only a cheap trick."

McGonagall began to write furiously on the parchment, and I stood, nodding. "Don't try to use it. I know you must miss your husband and other loved ones, but it flat isn't worth it."

"I know, David. But that doesn't stop me from hating myself for wanting to try and not having the courage to do it," McGonagall answered. "Good day."

I stood and left, returning to my duties.

Libra came back from Azkaban cold as ice and trembling all over. Molly was with her and in not much better shape. Arthur and I gave them hot chocolate and warm towels in the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore had retired to his quarters for the evening, and we were alone.

"He's not worth it, Libra," Molly said through chattering teeth. "That man doesn't deserve to be your brother."

"He still is, and I choose not to give up on him," Libra said, shivering uncontrollably as I hugged her, the blanket around the both of us.

"Molly, he's her family. She can't give up on him," Arthur chided.

Molly shook her head. "He did nothing but abuse her, Arthur. Not one kind word or thanks for the food and drink we brought him. He laughed at us and spit in our faces then insulted us in every way imaginable. I was half tempted to blast him into oblivion right then and there."

"There has to be a way to overcome his hate," Libra whispered, her eyes full of tears. "There is more to him than that. I remember it. He used to protect me and love me. There is hope for redemption yet."

"We'll keep praying for him," I told Libra. I didn't mention that I had been also praying he'd drop dead so my wife didn't have to go through this again, but I was also a little guilty that I felt that way and had tried to repent of it.

Molly and Arthur walked home with us after Arthur put a few warming charms on the blankets. We had dinner with the kids, then put them to bed early. Libra pulled me into bed, and she made love with a need and passion that reminded me of a drowning man gasping for air. As we lay together, gasping for breath, Libra squeezed me tightly.

"Do you love me, David?"

I pulled her close, stroking her hair as gently as I could. "With all my heart, and forever."

"Would there be something I could do that would make you hate me?" Libra asked.

I kissed the back of her neck. "No. You could try to kill me, and I don't think I could hate you. And I don't think that's something you could do."

"But I'm just like him," Libra said, rolling over so that she was looking up into my face. She reached out and gently stroked my beard. "We were raised together. We have the same blood. What's the difference between us?"

I took her hand in mine and kissed her fingers. "The love of God. Isn't that the only thing that saves any of us?"

Libra nodded, tears in her eyes, and reached down with her hands to pull me onto her. "Again. I need to know."

I did everything I could to show Libra and tell her how much I loved and needed her. She still had horrific nightmares that night. I don't even think it was the dementors. She had enough terrible memories of her own.

And the worst part was? I knew she was going back.

 _Authors Note:_

 _So, confession time: I wrote pretty much everything you've read up until now last year (excepting this chapter) and now I have to start writing this story again to get a back log going. So while I'll commit to a new chapter monthly, you won't be getting new chapters weekly like we have been for at least a few months._

 _The good news is, from what I've got planned out, we're actually pretty close to the end. I'm not going to do an exhaustive slog through Harry's Hogwart's years. The first year was very important because of how many important things I had planned, but the pace will be picking up. And as David once said, there will be no Harry_ _fighting_ _evil until he's at least 18. Or_ _participating_ _in Life and Death tournaments. Quidditch is pushing it._


	43. Chapter 43

This is the part where I wish I could say that Walden Macnair had a change of heart on the day of his execution, that he tearfully accepted Christ and faced death with dignity. I wish I could say that, but it would be a blatant lie.

Walden Macnair went to his death laughing and shouting profanity. He spat at the feet of his sister, told his children purge their bloodline and live like proper purebloods, and then died when his soul was consumed by a demon.

I took the rest of the day off when Libra returned from the execution, trembling and weeping as she came through our fireplace. Molly Weasley brought over dinner and tried to stay for a bit, but seemed to get the hint that we needed some time alone when I told her to leave with the kids because we needed some time alone.

"I'll never see him again," Libra told me as we sat at the dinner table, a mug of tea in her hands. She gazed down into the liquid as if searching for answers, and finding none. "He used his last breath to scream hatred."

I squeezed her shoulders. "You did everything you could, and then you did more. Maybe someone else will see and take comfort."

Libra snorted. "Pyrix was glaring at me as we left. Her mother kept her from saying anything, but the woman holds no love for me either. As for Wendell, I've never seen anyone so heartbroken. The boy couldn't stop sobbing and shaking the entire time."

I put my arm around Libra and squeezed, but I didn't know what to say. Sure, my family was gone, but I had the hope of heaven, that I could one day see them again. Walden Macnair was certainly eternally damned, and by his own hand. He was a rapist, murderer, and all around scumbag who had actively tried to kill his own sister. God might forgive him, but the man clearly had no interest in being forgiven himself. It was a bitter pill to swallow for Libra, though I had to admit I personally felt relieved the man was dead.

The next morning we returned to Hogwarts. Harry was waiting anxiously for us at the entrance of the Great Hall and gave his mother a big hug. He asked Libra how she was doing, then chatted away about his classes for a few minutes before he headed off to breakfast. Tonks and Hestia talked with Libra at breakfast, while Remus chatted with me. Everyone seemed determined to keep our spirits up, which I appreciated, but I did have other things on my mind.

Pyrix and Wendell were both absent from breakfast, and I wondered what they were up to. Wendell was a bit of a wild card at that moment, as I had no idea what sort of person he was. Of Pyrix however there could be no doubt: she had murder on her mind. After breakfast, Snape quietly informed me that Pyrix would not be allowed out of the sight of the Slytherin prefects, and that Libra would always have a professor or 7th year by her side during her work.

"And for yourself, I have quietly spoken to a few of my more trusted students. They will be enrolling in your class and will take your protection most seriously," Snape informed me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm really not worried about myself. I think I proved I can handle the girl, what with-"

"You survived one encounter. It would be prudent not to have another," Snape told me coldly. "For many reasons. Do not invite danger, Murphy. To do so would be unwise."

I wanted to protest, but acquiesce. No point in arguing against sound advice even if it did come from Snape.

The new Slytherin students turned out to be ones who had come to the movies we'd shown, and rather enjoyed them. They had been disappointed when I'd canceled the last movie due to the events surrounding the trial, but were eager to learn more about the muggle world in hopes it would be just as entertaining.

I got lost in my work, with more and more grading and planning for the clubs becoming necessary. Libra made a visit to the Perks and managed to convince them that not all magicals were heathens out to turn their daughter into a devil worshiper. My clubs did quite well, with both music and movies being very popular, and the gaming club settling into a small group that got together to have fun.

The only other major event was when Sarah managed to fall off a broom and break her arm when she went flying with Ginny at the Burrow. Molly had taken our three youngest over for the day, and while she had been supervising, she'd had to help James after he'd had an accident. Sarah and Ginny had flown off despite being told not to. Ginny was very distraught, and Sarah had wept profusely, but Molly fixed the arm so that by the time I found out about it, she was as good as new.

"Am I grounded daddy?" Sarah asked, at this point more concerned that I would confiscate her flying rights than that about the fact that she'd nearly killed herself.

Though I had the very strong urge to answer that with a "yes," instead I gave my oldest daughter a hug. "No, I think the broken arm was punishment enough. Did you learn not to fly when you're told not to?"

Sarah nodded rapidly, a huge grin spreading on her face. I turned to Ginny, who was blushing and hiding behind her mother's skirts. "And as for you, I hope you've learned not to let this one talk you into doing anything foolish. You're a lot older than she is, and you should know better."

"She won't be flying anytime soon," Molly said sternly, glaring down at her daughter. "And she'll be mucking out the henhouse with no magic."

That little incident didn't seem to harm the friendship forming between Ginny and Sarah, despite the fact that they were five years apart. I figured that was good, and kept my eye on book Harry's bride. She was certainly a spirited little thing and I desperately hoped she never had to undergo possession by the Diary. Of course, the Chamber was free of basilisks at this point, so at least that danger was out of the way.

Halloween rolled around, and by that time Libra's nightmares were somewhat lessened, though she still awoke in a cold sweat more than once a week. Sirius, Remus, and even Snape did extra patrols around the castle, Sirius having come over on the pretext that he wanted to spend the holiday with his fiance. We found no signs of trolls or possessed teachers (not that I had any idea what either would look like, but I felt like I was helping) and the dungeons were clear of any monsters, aside from Snape.

Sirius managed to be cordial to Snape, and while Snape was cold and condescending to Sirius, he didn't really treat him any differently than he did most people as far as I could tell. The two would clearly never be friends, but for a miracle they seemed to be able to set aside their differences when a real crisis loomed.

For his part, Harry was oblivious to the tension and he and his friends thought it was great fun to carve pumpkins and eat sweets with Uncle Padfoot. Hagrid provided us with a dozen huge pumpkins, and Harry's siblings joined the seven first years of Harry's DnD group.

Ron and Justin were obviously best mates, while Harry spent most of his time with Ernie. Hermione had joined up with Lavender and Sally Anne of all people, which I had thought impossible. Lavender was a true social butterfly who made sure everyone got along with everyone else and together with Harry was the true glue of the group. Sally Anne was shy and withdrawn, but shared a love of makeup and girl mags with Lavender and a love of literature with Hermione, though she had mostly read the sort of books I had growing up. That is, the preapproved Christian sort. Hermione was the obvious leader of the trio of girls and the brains of the group. She did try to boss people around, though Harry usually managed to overpower her if he really set his heart on something. All and all, it was an interesting group that subdivided itself nicely, with most everyone hanging out and getting along (though Ron and Hermione still irritated one another).

The four boys had a sort of contest on regarding who could carve the most grotesque pumpkin, with Sirius and James participating. They managed to come up with some truly horrific designs, the best of which was a demon-toothed boar that snarled and chomped thanks to Sirius animating it. Sarah and Marie joined the girls in making some more fanciful designs, with Marie drawing a not half bad unicorn that Lavender carved out for her. Sarah of course, made a broom stick and shooting stars that Hermione and Sally Anne helped her with. I couldn't help but notice that Marie's design was actually more intricate than Sarah's, and that she talked far less with the older girls, only shyly pointing and drawing.

James, for his part, managed to find a bug and eat it. Because of course he did. Sirius, damn him, thought it was hilarious, turned into a dog, and ate a grasshopper himself. God help Aurora.

The Halloween feast went off without a hitch. There were no fainting professors or invading monsters. I breathed a sigh of relief about that, though I did spot Pyrix staring at my children. She caught me looking at her and narrowed her eyes at me before ducking her head to eat her food. I noticed she didn't chat with her neighbors at the meal, and leaned over to whisper to Snape.

"My niece, she have any friends?"

Snape glanced at me before turning back to his food. "You and your family are increasingly beloved at the school. Your wife is viewed as a hero by a large number of students. Slytherins are an ambitious lot: those who would go against popular opinion are often shunned. I have also made it clear I do not approve of her hostility. She finds herself and her radical pureblood ideology increasingly ostracized."

I glanced back up and found Wendell at the table. He was smiling and chatting with another Slytherin boy. I started when I recognized his friend from my classes. "Wendell seems alright, and he's talking with one of my own students."

Snape nodded, patting his lips with his napkin. "While Wendell has little love for you and has taken the loss of his father hard, he has managed to go beyond grief and bitterness. His friend there is one of your students, Vernes. He's inquired about you, but not in a hostile manner."

"Maybe his sister could learn a thing or two from him," I commented.

Snape shook his head. "The siblings do not see eye to eye. Pyrix is obsessed with vengeance and to her their father is a martyr. Wendell realizes that while he loves his father, Walden was a wicked man who deserved his fate. He was horrified to learn of the many crimes his father committed. He confessed to me he sort of knew that his father was a criminal, but never realized the depth of his depravity."

"I never asked, but do you know much of their mother?" I inquired.

Snape shrugged. "She was in my year; Theresa Macnair nee MacDougall. She was in Ravenclaw, so I did not know her well."

"She spoke at the trial," Libra said, looking up from her dessert. "She knew what her husband was up to, but lived in terror of him. She never realized what sort of man he was until after their wedding. Walden could be charming and charismatic when he wanted to be. He saw her as nothing more than a baby maker. He abused her heavily, but she still loved him I think."

"Was she punished?" I asked, realizing I'd never inquired before.

Libra shrugged. "She lost her husband. The court took pity on her. She was seen as just as much of a victim as everyone else. She actually helped locate a good many of the buried bodies."

"Huh." I looked back at Pyrix and Wendell, who were both looking down at their plates. "Sounds like our family wasn't the only one that bastard hurt."

Later that evening as we were walking back home with Sirius and Aurora, three sleepy children in our arms, Libra asked me, "Do you think I should reach out to her?"

"Who?" I asked, shifting Marie to my other should as she snored.

"My sister-in-law, Theresa," Libra clarified.

I missed half a step, but managed to catch myself before I stumbled. "I don't know. Do you want to?"

Libra walked in silence as she held on to James. Ahead of us, Sarah was laughing as Sirius and Aurora swung her between them. She didn't say anything more until after Sirius and Aurora had left through our floo and the children were put to bed, even Sarah, who had been more than a little hyper thanks to all the candy.

"I think I should contact Theresa," Libra told me. "I just...I'm not sure how to do it. Maybe Severus has some ideas."

I didn't question the wisdom of consulting Snape for social niceties. "Whatever you decide, I'll be there for you."

After talking with Snape, Libra wrote a letter to Theresa. After a week of waiting, there was no reply.

"It's like my mother all over again," Libra told me one Saturday morning as we walked to Hogwarts. There had been no owl again, and it had been ten days. "It's like they don't even want to acknowledge I exist."

"Screw them. Keep reminding them you do," I told her. "Maybe they'll catch on eventually."

To my surprise, Libra nodded thoughtfully. "I think I will."

From then on, once a week, Libra wrote both her sister and law and her mother. She would write about what the children were up to, how Harry was doing in Hogwarts, her own work, what I was up to, even the weather if nothing else exciting was happening. So far as I know, she kept writing those letters week in and week out for as long as she lived.

After Halloween, while my teaching duties and clubs didn't change, one thing did. I and Libra both found ourselves unceremoniously roped into what was turning out to be the event of the decade: The Black Wedding.

Now, ominous name aside, the wedding of the Wizarding World's Most Eligible Bachelor was a rather big deal. Sirius was one of the 100 most wealthy wizards alive, and in the top half of that number too. The Black family was famous worldwide for their wealth, power, and dark connections. Sirius might have broken that trend, but for his stint in Azkaban. The media (and thus, the public) still viewed him as somewhat tainted by evil and all the more interesting for it.

For her part, Aurora Sinestra had been well known in Britain as the Hogwarts Astronomy teacher, a position of some renown. She was of African origin, though her family had resided in Britain for some time, and were considered to be a somewhat respectable wizarding family (though not one of the old pureblood ones). All the gossip rags were full of news stories about her, and reporters from Europe and North America showed up to do covers of her choice of wedding gown.

As she had said, Aurora wanted a real wedding, and as Libra was quickly becoming a good friend of hers, she found herself one of the bridesmaids and was quickly dragged into the wedding planning, something she confessed to me that she actually enjoyed.

"I'll never regret that we didn't have a fancy wedding ourselves. What we did have was beautiful. But, I do admit I've always loved the pageantry, and this wedding is going to be extraordinary," she told me.

I groaned. "Don't remind me. I'm one of the groomsmen."

Yes, being an honorary Marauder meant that I was part of the wedding party, and let me tell you, there was no small amount of scandal when it got out a muggle was going to be part of THE wizarding wedding, and in the party no less. Lupin was, of course, Sirius' best man. The two of us were completely clueless when it came to figuring out how to plan a bachelor party, which Sirius had made clear he definitely wanted.

"I don't care what Sirius wants, I'm not ordering strippers of any kind, especially not veela," I told Lupin as we sat grading papers in the teachers lounge one afternoon.

The poor man just laughed. "As if either of us would even begin to know where to find one! I say we let the twins plan it."

"That's actually not a bad idea," I mused, stroking my beard.

"Just remember who their mother is," Snape said, his eyes fixed on his own grading.

We both turned to look at Snape, who was back to ignoring us.

"Yeah that's probably not a good idea," I admitted, turning back to Lupin. "What if we just rented out a muggle hotel and got plenty of booze? But who are we supposed to invite? Aside from us, who are Sirius' friends?"

"He doesn't get out much," Lupin admitted. "He's cordial with the old Order of the Phoenix members but he's not close with any of them."

"Hey Snape, want to go to a bachelor party?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Only if it does not involve the bachelor in question," Snape replied.

Lupin snorted and almost spilled ink all over the essay he was grading. I clucked my tongue at him. "That's why you should all switch to using ball point pens. No inkpots. But really, what are we going to do?"

"You two are both hopeless," Snape said, still not looking up from his potions papers. "You both claim to be the best friends of the man and neither of you have any idea what he wants."

We both turned and glared at Snape. "Do you have any suggestions, Severus?" Lupin growled. It was a bit close to the full moon.

Snape idly scrawled a grade on the parchment in front of him and flipped to the next one. "If you truly wish for the man to have a good time, all you need to is think about what he most enjoys, then plan your party around that. Your idiotic traditions of wenching and wine will bring him no joy."

"What he most enjoys is spending time with his godson," Lupin muttered.

"I am not taking Harry boozing or whoring. And I'm not going whoring myself," I told him firmly.

"We could just get him tickets to a quidditch match and have him take Harry to his first one," Lupin mused. "I bet he'd like that."

We both stared at each other, blinking. "Thanks Snape," I said, standing. "Let's go find out when the next game is and how much tickets are. I bet Hooch has the schedule."

"Do not mention it," Snape said as we left. "Ever."

With our own wedding plans now in place, I had no more excuses in helping Libra. Sure, I couldn't go on trips to Diagon Alley with her to pick out drapes and floral arrangements, but I got stuck spending a good chunk of my free time pouring over wedding magazines in the Hogwarts staff room. While my opinion on everything was "sure, why not," I did get to provide emotional support.

The Wedding itself was going to be held in Hogsmeade, as it was just about the only place in Magical Britain big enough for the extravaganza. A special hall was erected and decorated as snow dusted the landscape.

My poor children at long last abandoned all attempts at going barefoot, even stubborn Sarah who had clung to her old Hawaii ways until she just about lost a toe to frostbite. All the kids, even Harry, were thrilled when mid-November brought the first real snow of the season, and though the snow melted after a few days they had great fun building snowmen and having snowball fights with Harry's group of friends.

The Bachelor party was a huge success: two Sundays before the end of term we took Sirius, Harry, and Sarah (because she would likely have died if she hadn't been allowed to come) to a quidditch match between the Catapults and Magpies. The match was a long one, dragging on for over four hours until the snitch was finally caught, but Harry and Sarah were enraptured the whole time. Sirius had a great time, his wedding nerves forgotten as he cheered on with the kids and explained every play. Lupin and I enjoyed seeing them have a good time, and enjoyed some hot cider to keep ourselves warm. I had to take a very long train ride back and forth to Hogwarts, as the game had been in Montrose, but it was worth it just to see Sirius and the kids have a good time.

The wedding set for the day after the start of the Christmas Holidays, so things hit a fever pitch as term ended. My classes all had midterms, which ranged from the third years having to correctly make change with muggle currency to the seventh years being dropped in the middle of Edinburgh and having to take the train back to Hogwarts. We had a few professors hovering around in the background (and Moody, who surprisingly enough turned out to be the best of all at blending in) in case something went wrong, but aside from one panicky Hufflepuff who used magic in public, everything went well. Although six students did give up and took the magical way back.

Then term was over, and the wedding had arrived. Interestingly, a good many students stayed at Hogwarts, as their family's were either invited to the wedding, or coming to Hogsmeade just for the spectacle of the whole thing. The staff had one final dinner together, though we would all be seeing each other the next day.

"A toast to our blushing bride, and her soon to be husband," Dumbledore said, raising a glass. "May your lives together be long and full of joy."

We all cheered, and Aurora blushed, looking to Sirius who had joined us. The two of them really were a good couple, and I smiled at Libra, taking her hand. Hopefully, despite all the tragedy in his life, Sirius Black could have the same sort of marriage I had found.


	44. Chapter 44

I'd never thought I had missed out by not having a grandiose wedding. Having lived through the Black Wedding, I can safely say that the experience did nothing but confirm my earlier suspicion. The night before the wedding, Sirius developed a sudden case of nerves, and Remus and I had to convince him that he was not, in fact, the worst thing that had ever happened to Aurora. There were a few bottles of medicinal fire whiskey and other things involved, but we managed to keep the groom sober enough to be presentable.

For her part Libra had to cope with the million and one things that of course, had to be dealt with at the very last minute to finish the wedding preparations. For one thing, to quote the Lord of the Rings, half of Magical Britain had been invited, and the other half were showing up anyway. Hogsmeade was filled to overflowing, with every house seemingly fortified with expansion charms and a dozen other things that were too complicated for me to figure out. A veritable forest of tents had popped around the village, and still more people seemed to be flooing or flying or aparating in the day of, regardless.

That meant that just about anyone who could handle a frying pan or cook with a wand and cauldron had been conscripted into providing food for the guests and hangers on, and that ended up being Libra's bailiwick. She had Molly to help her, riding roughshod over cooks both human, elven, and quite a few things I didn't recognize.

As a part of the wedding party I was forced to pose for a million pictures, as did all my children. James and Marie started fussing halfway through the first set of photos. James hared off after a niffler that had gotten loose and was stealing silverware, while Marie tried to hide in a corner, frightened by some of the more outlandishly dressed guests. Sirius had just managed to grab James while I was trying to use a cookie (or rather, a biscuit, but saying that made me feel like I was treating my daughter like an ill behaved puppy) to coax Marie to pose for another set of photos when someone slapped me on the back hard enough to knock me over.

"Ho brah! You in da wedding? For one haole boy you sure hang with the kahuna yeah?"

"Uncle Kai!" Marie shrieked, and launched herself out of her hiding place and into Kai's arms. He laughed and spun her about, then set her on top of his shoulders. Somehow she'd managed to snag my cookie, and was munching on it contentedly.

"You got invited to this three ring circus too?" I asked, giving Kai a fist bump.

"Yeah, they think I da kine or something, or rather Auntie Mai is. She da Supreme Mugwump and get one invitation. I'm her plus one. Must be her least favorite nephew for her drag me to this freezing place. How you stand it when it so cold brah?"

I laughed and shook my head. "Believe it or not it's pretty warm today, for winter, but your clothing doesn't help." Kai was dressed in traditional ali'i garb, with a bright orange cotton robe, red and yellow britches, and a mahiole headdress made of hawaiian honeycreeper feathers. He was, of course, wearing sandals. I was in a long black formal robe with long johns under it with stout boots, which were substantially warmer.

"You gots to wear shoes here, Uncle Kai," Marie declared. "No slippahs. Or you toes freeze."

"Yeah no joke," Kai agreed. "Good thing I know plenty warming charms. Only way I survived so far."

With Kai's support Marie managed to make it through the endless set of photos, then we all were loaded into carriages pulled by what I assumed were Thestrals and it was off to the chapel where the wedding would be held.

"I wonder how they pull the carriages. We've not learned any charms like that in school," Harry mused.

"They're invisible horses," Sarah declared with conviction.

"How do you know that?" I asked, concerned. I didn't think Sarah had ever seen anyone die, and if she had I would have known about it.

"Cause they leave hoofprints," Sarah said, pointing ahead of us. Sure enough, there were tracks in the snow, made by the black monstrous looking horses.

"Oh, good. Well, as long as they're invisible," I said with a sense of relief.

"Can you see them?" Libra asked as she pulled James back into the carriage. As soon as he'd heard there was some sort of magical creature he'd tried to stick his head out and look.

"Yeah, can you?" I asked.

Libra sighed and shook her head. "I should be able to, but I can't."

"Why can you not see them but daddy can?" Sarah asked. "Is it 'cause of his super powers?"

"Something like that," I said. "They're thestrals, I believe. They're invisible unless...unless you're older."

"But daddy you say mommy old," Marie protested.

I flushed and coughed. "That's uh, a joke. I'm older than she is, actually."

"Ok," Marie agreed.

"What do they look like?" Harry asked curiously. "We've not learned about Thestrals."

"Like the ugliest horse you've ever seen," I said. "With attitude. This is the 90s after all."

"Yeah ok," Harry said, rolling his eyes. To my dismay, he was copying Libra. Apparently no one was appreciating my foreknowledge at the moment.

The wedding itself was taking place in a specially constructed chapel not far from Hogsmeade. While it resembled a quaint little church on the exterior, inside it was about the same size as a mega-church, with seating for over 5,000. The decorations consisted of endless bouquets of exotic flowers (more than a few of which were imported from Hawaii at Libra's suggestion), and red and blue banners (which Libra insisted were scarlet and egyptian). Libra and I split off, myself going with Harry and James to stand on the stage with Sirius while Libra disappeared with Marie and Sarah to wherever the bridal party was.

Remus nodded to me, while Sirius was bouncing nervously up on the balls of his feet. "What if she doesn't come?"

"She'll come," Lupin said calmly.

"You're out a lot of money Uncle Sirius," Harry answered.

Lupin and I glared at Harry, while Sirius guffawed and seemed to calm slightly. "You know, I told James the same thing when he and Lily got married, though admittedly he would have only been out a few dozen galleons. I've sunk Sissy only knows how much into this bloody mess."

"Yeah well, if the fish bites, the bait was worth it," I said, my eyes wandering over the crowd. I recognized all of my colleagues from the school and nodded to them. Most of them were in Aurora's section of the pews, but Dumbledore and Minerva were sitting in Sirius's section. Minerva had to nudge the old headmaster when Harry waved to them, as he'd been snoozing. He roused long enough to smile at Harry, then wearily sank back into his seat and drifted off again.

A clergyman in formal ecumenical robes of the Church of England stepped out onto the stage and nodded to Sirius. "All ready, Mr. Black?"

"As I'll ever be," Sirius said. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind, Tim."

"Of course, of course," Father Timothy Andrew said, smiling and nodding. Andrew had turned out to be a rather rare wizard who was not only religious, but an ordained priest in the Church of England. His parish was in London, but he'd been commissioned to perform the ceremony due to a dearth of other applicants. He gestured with a wand, and an enormous pipe organ in the corner began to play.

Marie and Sarah came down the aisle, scattering flowers and smiling cutely as bulb flashes went off all around them. I felt a lump in my throat and a few tears in my eyes, seeing my baby girls all grown up and looking so beautiful in their dresses. Then came James, solemn and serious as only a very young child can be, toddling along with the ring on a velvet cushion. I was half worried he would either trip and fall or even worse, stick the damn thing in his mouth and swallow it. It was terribly gaudy with dozens of sparkling gems and heavy with precious metals, and would probably choke him or something. Thankfully he managed to get to the altar and take his place beside his sisters.

Then he promptly sneezed and boogers coated his face. I let out a muttered oath, but Lupin drew out his wand and magicked away the filth before things could get really nasty. Thank God.

And then came the bridal party. I smiled at Libra, who looked amazing in her gown. Tonks, Alexa, and Hestia were also in the party, along with Aurora's older sister and her best friend from back in her school days. They all lined up, and the music swelled as the bride made her way up to the stage.

Aurora looked pretty good, her dark skin contrasting with the pearly white of her wedding gown. I naturally did my very best to keep my eyes on Libra, and I mostly succeeded, especially since her gown showed quite a bit of her bust. After all, my wife was the best looking woman there, and anyone who wanted to challenge me on that could fight me.

"Welcome, friends and family, to the Black Wedding," Father Andrew said, smiling and looking around to the crowd. "We are gathered here today to join Sirius Majoris Black, and Aurora Polaris Sinestra in Holy Matrimony. So, I am afraid ladies, that Mr. Black is now firmly off the market."

That brought some chuckles and a few whoops from the crowd (and also Harry), though I did see a few younger women who looked rather upset.

Then it was time for the vows. Taking a deep breath, Sirius pulled a bit of crumpled parchment from his pocket, and slowly unfolded it. He glanced at Aurora, then over at Harry. Harry vigorously shook his head. I wasn't sure what that was about, but after a moment, Sirius tossed Harry the parchment, who quickly shoved it in his pocket. Taking Aurora's hands, Sirius smiled.

"You know I've a bit of a reputation," Sirius said, his voice carrying thanks to a bit of magical amplification from Father Andrew. "And that my family has a bit of a reputation. But you're still here. And I love you for that. You've been patient with me, you've been kind to me, more than I deserve. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Aurora. I want to have a family with you, a real one and I promise-" Sirius stammered a bit, but Aurora reached out and took his hands. He calmed a bit, smiling as tears came to his eyes. "I promise that I'll be a good husband and father. I know I'm not perfect, and if you haven't figured that out yet you haven't been paying attention. But I won't abandon you, and I'll never, ever hate you our children, no matter what they chose for themselves in their own lives. Even Slytherin, I guess."

Aurora smiled through tears of her own. "I love you, Sirius Black. It took me a while to see beneath the mask you wear. You're not nearly as funny as you think you are, but you're not nearly as dark as you think you are either. I see a man who is Brave, and Loyal, and always willing to put himself before those he loves. I am so happy that I'm one of those people. And since neither one of us is perfect, I suppose we'll be a good match after all. Even if I do have to house break you."

Then it was time for the various readings from everyone. I had one of course, as did Libra, though truth to tell I didn't pay much attention to hers, as I'd heard her rehearse it a few dozen times.

"Sirius, Aurora, today is a wonderful day, and I know you're both so happy and proud. And you'll be that way for a week, a month, maybe even a year. Marriage is a wonderful blessing and treasure. But it takes work. Someday, hopefully not one that's too soon, you're going to have a fight. It could be over something silly, or perhaps something rather dire. It doesn't really matter what it's about. I distinctly remember having a rather long argument with a very stubborn man I love very much over whether or not socks need to be folded before they're put away."

Everyone glanced at me. I shrugged and smiled, not wanting to steal the spotlight, and Libra continued. "But what matters is, even in that argument, even after that argument, when you're angry and hurt and can't believe the other person could be so stupid, you still have to love one another."

"Love is patient, love is kind, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. That's 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, which should make Father Andrew happy."

The priest chuckled and smiled, giving Libra a nod. She was the only one so far to include a Bible verse in her reading, the rest had been poetry or something, I wasn't sure as I didn't recognize the source of most of it.

"Keep hold of that love, no matter what. It takes work. Love isn't the wonderful feeling at a wedding, because that fades. Love is that commitment that will keep you going no matter what, that willingness to sacrifice your own wants and needs to do what's right. I know you can both do that, and I know your marriage will be full of love. Just remember that when someone forgets to fold their socks."

"Mum's never going to let you live that one down, is she?" Harry whispered to me as Libra retreated to polite applause.

"No. And you'd best remember to fold your own socks, young man," I said. Then gave Harry a push for his own reading.

"A dog doesn't care if you're rich or poor, big or small, young or old," Harry said, reading from a small note card. "He doesn't care if you're not smart, not popular, not a good joke-teller, not the best athlete, nor the best-looking person. To your dog, you are the greatest, the smartest, the nicest human being who was ever born. You are his friend and protector."

The crowd at large looked confused and muttered amongst themselves, but Sirius burst out laughing, and Aurora let out a snort and covered her mouth as she giggled. I chuckled and shook my head, while Lupin rolled his eyes, though he was smiling. Libra caught my eyes and mouthed, "He's your son." I made finger guns and fired off a few blasts, which made her smile and shake her head.

Shuffling his note cards, Harry read, "When in the twinkling of an eye,

From palpable obscurity

Tumultuous streams of glory gushed,

Ten thousand thousand rainbows rushed

And revelled through the boundless sky,

In jousting, flashing radiancy.

Careering around the welkin's brim

Like bright embattled Seraphim;

Or soaring up to the dome of Night,

Flooding the Milky-way with light;

Or streaming down on the mountain peaks,

On the muirland wastes, and the heather brakes;

On lake and river, on tower and tree,

Showering a sky-born galaxy,

Like a storm of pearls and diamonds driven,

Imbued with the gorgeous hues of heaven!"

"The Aurora, by David Vedder," Harry finished. I was impressed. That was a poem he'd had to read back in 3rd grade. Not bad.

Then soon enough it was my turn.

I walked up to the podium and smiled at the happy couple. "Good luck to you, Sirius. You landed quite the catch. Aurora, you landed quite the catch. Good Luck to you. But I'll leave you with this."

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?"

"We all fall down. But if you have someone with you, it's a lot easier to get back up again."

Then it was time for the sermon by Father Andrew. He kept it short, but I was busy making sure James stayed mostly still, though I did have to pick him up and have Harry hold the ring, as the little guy was getting pretty nervous and worn out with all the people looking at him. I set him back down in time to give the ring to Sirius during the exchange of vows, which were heartfelt and lovely and all that, but I had a two year old to keep from fussing and missed most of it.

I set James down and clapped for the kiss, and Sirius and Aurora exchanged wands and performed a bit of complex magic that left a golden rainbow in the air, and everyone clapped and the women cried and the man whooped. Sirius and Aurora ran down the aisle, as everyone pulled out their wands and shot out fountains of flowers, or streams of light, or birds burst out, or a dozen other things.

And it was off to the reception, which was just next door in a specially constructed massive dining hall. Despite the frigid air, the reception hall was warm and bright, with floating orbs of light and huge tables covered in food.

I took James to the bathroom, then met up with Libra and the others and sat at the main table, eating and drinking and laughing as we raised glasses to the new couple. There were about a hundred toasts, and I was feeling more than a little tipsy by the time we came to the end of them all. I also ended up having to take James for another bathroom break, but was back in time for the first dance.

It was a slow waltz with some witch crooning lyrics I didn't know in the background, but Aurora and Sirius looked happy and lovely out on the dance floor, so that was what mattered. When it was over, however, a new beat began to play.

"Alright, it's me, your DJ, the BOY WHO LIVED! And my assistant, Flyest Girl, commin' at ya straight from Da Big Island!"

Someone, probably Kai, let out a loud "CHEEEEEHOOOOO!"

"Oh God," I muttered, and glanced around to see Harry on the stage with Sarah next to him, standing by an ancient looking gramophone, which Sarah shoved out of the way and put a cassette tape in its place, which Harry tapped with his wand and said some spell.

"Is he supposed to be doing that?" I asked Libra.

"I don't know," she said with narrowing eyes. "But if he isn't, so help me, he won't be able to sit down for-"

"And now, by special request, your second song for the dance!" Harry said, and Sarah pressed a button on the cassette player.

A very familiar voice proclaimed, "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog." I groaned and began to stomp forward to retrieve my wayward children, until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"It was Padfoot's idea," Lupin half shouted over the music. "Aurora signed off on it, don't worry. I looked over Harry's choices, they're fine."

I looked out to the dance floor, where Sirius was whirling Aurora around to the upbeat rock. I blinked a few times, but then Hestia had grabbed Lupin and pulled him out onto the dance floor to boogie with her. I glanced at my own wife, who shrugged. We went out onto the dance floor along with our younger two, who proceeded to jump and dance as only small children can, while their mother and I enjoyed ourselves.

Harry's choice of music was...eclectic, to say the least. While the majority of his selections were clearly muggle stuff he'd heard with me or back in Hawaii, like Bruddah Iz's rendition of "What a Wonderful World," other stuff was probably from the magical world that he'd heard at Hogwarts from his friends.

Before long, Ernie and Lavender showed up at the DJ booth, and to my mild surprise Harry took Lavender out to dance to "Wake Me Up!" which was a fine pop piece, but then they also slow danced to "Kiss the Girl". That got my Dad Instincts on high alert, and I narrowed my eyes as I spun slowly around with Marie as Libra danced with James. Still, they were only 11, so it was chaste enough, but dammit, they needed to leave room for Jesus there.

Just as I was getting ready to get over there and make sure Harry had his hands where I could see them, there was the sound of a crashing plate and a sudden scream.

Everyone looked over to see Tonks, kneeling by the Headmaster's chair. He looked to be asleep, as he had through most of the reception, slouched in his chair with his long white beard dangling down between his legs, his chin resting on his chest.

"Professor? Professor Dumbledore!" Tonks half shouted, shaking the professor with one hand as her wand ran over his body. "Sir, you've got to wake up! Please, oh God, oh God, dad! Dad get over here right now!"

A balding middle aged man ran over, wand at the ready, as Sebastian continued to croon in the background. Everyone had stopped moving, all eyes were on Tonk's father as he performed a few diagnostic spells. Then, he let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. He reached over and brushed his hands over the old Headmaster's face, closing his half open eyes.

Edward Tonks took a shuddering sigh, then rested a comforting hand on his daughter's shoulder as she began to sob. "I am terribly sorry," Edward said in a loud, carrying voice. "But the Headmaster is dead. There is nothing I can do."

"No," I whispered, picking my daughter up and hugging her close as I put another arm around my wife, who was clutching James. "Oh God, no."

Tears ran down my face, and Marie began to wail, as did many others in the room.

The Black Wedding came to a grinding halt, as the room spun and refocused from the happy couple, to the skeletal corpse that had once been the greatest wizard in the world.

 _Authors note:_

 _You guys don't even begin to know how lucky you are that my mother thinks this is the best thing I've ever written and keeps bugging me for new chapters._


	45. Chapter 45

If the Black Wedding had been the event of the decade, it soon became the event of the century. Whereas every socialite and not a few political dignitaries from around the globe had turned out for the wedding of the Wizarding World's Most Eligible bachelor, the world turned out for the funeral of the Greatest Wizard of the 20th Century.

Poor Sirius and Aurora canceled their honeymoon, but who could blame them? No one felt much like celebrating, and the bright wedding colors were traded in for somber black. It would have been fitting if an icy blizzard descended, but the weather was unseasonably warm and sunny, at least for the brief hours the sun was visible during those few days.

Dumbledore's funeral was scheduled for Christmas Eve, three days after the Black Wedding. During that time, flocks of reporters from across the magical world descended upon us, even more than prior to the wedding. Whereas previously we had dealt with the yellow journalists and sensationalist writers interested in gossip and titillation, now everyone was being tracked down by serious witches and wizards looking for insights into the life of the most accomplished and renowned wizard of the past one hundred years.

I myself was cornered more than once, and to my surprise the questions I was asked were rather insightful.

"Dumbledore was, by all accounts, your first real contact inside the magical world, your wife being in exile at the time. How did you perceive him?"

My interviewer this afternoon was an elderly gentleman with a light germanic accent, dressed not in robes but a crisp black suit (from the late 19th century, but still acceptable thanks to the glacial pace of male fashion) and bowler, named Herman Schreiber. He was a reporter from the magazine _Dichter und Denker._

"To be honest, he terrified me," I said, leaning back in my office chair. I'd come in to finish up some planning I'd saved up over the break, but was getting little done and had agreed to speak to Herr Schreiber when he'd politely knocked on the door frame. "I had a being sitting in my dining room who could have wrapped me around his little finger with a word or gesture. Libra had spoken of him, and since she'd been raised on the other side so to speak, what she'd had to say was far from flattering or comforting."

"Yes, I can see how that would be," Schreiber said, taking notes on a sheet of parchment. Another quill copied what he wrote on a second parchment, this one in German. Schreiber assured me it said exactly the same thing, though even he admitted no translation was perfect. As I spoke no German, I'd have to take his word for its accuracy. "That being so, what changed your mind? Obviously, you became comfortable enough with the man to return to Britain and work closely with him."

"More than that, I trusted him with my son's life," I said with sigh. I leaned back, looking up at the ceiling as the scratching of the quills went silent. After a long moment, I continued, "He wasn't what I expected, that's for certain. In my mind I constructed some sort of super human being, an Ubermensch I believe you would say, in the classic Neichze style. You know Neichze?"

"Hmmm, yes, a muggle thinker, was he not?" Schreiber mused, a hand reaching up to stroke the salt and pepper mustache he grew.

"Yeah. I imagined this all powerful man who could bind and loose all the powers of Earth, could simply have his wand and call forth armies and make countries tremble, all while being capable of bending the natural world to whatever he set his will to with no more than a word. But that wasn't him at all."

"He was human. Sure, he was powerful, able to do things I could only barely imagine were possible. And yes, he was wise and knowledgeable, perhaps the smartest human being I've ever spoken to. But he made mistakes, he had flaws. Hell, you know I blamed him for Harry being placed with his awful relatives, figured this wise old wizard had some cockamamy scheme that involved the right amount of suffering to mold Harry into a perfect hero or something."

Schreiber didn't say anything, only grunting as he continued to write.

"But that wasn't the case at all. I mean, once Dumbledore actually figured out what was going on, he did what he could to help Harry. He hadn't a clue that Harry's relatives would treat him poorly, and had carried out the last request of Lily and James Potter by giving Harry to the Dursleys. Then he was always willing to help Libra and me when we needed it, figuring out what we should do. He gave me a job here at Hogwarts, he helped Harry ease back into the wizarding world and he-"

I cut myself off. Mentioning the Deathly Hallows didn't strike me as a super great idea.

"And?" Schreiber prodded, looking up from his notes.

"And he was generally a decent man," I said lamely. "One that I'll miss. He wasn't what I expected, but I think he was what I needed."

"What about as an educator?" Schreiber asked after examining a rolled up parchment he'd pulled from a pocket.

"Well, he certainly put the needs of his students first," I said. "I can't really speak to him as a teacher, I never saw him give a lecture and transfiguration and alchemy are subjects I have little to no understanding of for obvious reasons."

"Indeed. But what about as a Headmaster?"

I shook my head. "I'm afraid I came in at a poor time to really see Dumbledore at his prime. He was fading fast by the time I started. We all knew he wasn't doing well, but it's a miracle he kept up with his duties as well as he did considering how ill he truly was. But as I said, he put the needs of his students first. And even in the short time I knew him as a headmaster he handled several tricky situations extremely well, including me being assaulted by my own niece, and the fallout from it being revealed I was a muggle. So he was a good, competent administrator, even at the end of his life. He spent his whole life teaching, and I think it's a monument to his legacy to see how many lives he impacted."

While I had spoken the truth, just how right I was wouldn't be shown until the funeral itself. Thanks to the warm weather, the funeral was held on the Hogwarts grounds. It was likely the only place that could have possibly have held the sheer number of people that came to see Dumbledore off. I had thought all of Magical Britain came to the Black Wedding. I had been exaggerating. They did come to bid farewell to Dumbledore.

The line for the viewing and paying of last respects stretched for literal miles, with Dumbledore lying in state as a steady procession of weeping mourners of all ages trekked past. Dumbledore had been teaching at Hogwarts for 79 years, from 1923 until 1992, with 14 as Headmaster. Some of Dumbledore's former students were old men and women themselves, and you could see four generations of Hogwarts alumni, all honoring their former teacher.

I sat with the other Hogwarts professors in the same chapel where the wedding had been held (it having been magically moved onto the grounds), watching the wizarding world go past. It wasn't just representatives from Britain who came to pay their respects, but members of the magical community from all over the world. The Headmasters of every major magical institution in the world were among the guests, though I only recognized Iolana and Madam Maxine, who was hard not to pick out thanks to standing head and shoulders above all save Hagrid.

There were also various heads of state, and the representatives of the members of the ICW, with Kai and Mai sitting soberly at the front. The traditional Hawaiian garb had wisely been traded in for black robes and caps that fitted the weather and mode much better.

I also got my first real look at many of the non-human races. There were goblins who came to pay respects of course, but also centaurs, veela, a vampire, a merman in a floating bubble of water, and a dozen other species I couldn't name.

Thankfully my children were well behaved throughout the whole thing. Sarah and Marie cried a lot with their mother and I, while James sat with Harry quietly, his thumb in his mouth as he rested his head on his big brothers shoulder. Harry's own eyes were red and bloodshot. He'd never gotten to know Dumbledore, but he was both sad and frightened. And for good reason.

"What's going to happen now, dad?" Harry had asked me quietly a good dozen times since Dumbledore's death.

The first time I'd only been able to shake my head and say, "I don't know."

But Harry wasn't asking me the simple question of a child who's just had something as scary and unexpected as a death of a teacher happen to him. Harry, like me, was burdened with future knowledge. I'd told him Dumbledore would be there to help guide us, and that the old man had been instrumental in defeating Voldemort. And now, none of that was going to happen. Largely because of my own hubris.

So I took Harry for a long walk the day before the funeral, the two of us tramping along the icy path near the Hogwarts greenhouse. The sun was melting the snow each day, but it quickly refroze to slippery ice, and the going was slow.

"What's going to happen now, dad?" Harry asked once more.

I paused to exhale slowly, my breath burning in my lungs as it turned to icy crystals before me when I exhaled. "Honestly, I don't know. This frightens and scares me. It's time we talked about multiverse theory."

"I know what that is," Harry said, his voice muffled by the scarf his mother had made him wrap about his face. He skidded on the ice a little, but Harry had an excellent sense of balance (unlike his old man) and easily kept his footing. I'd already take a couple of spills, and Harry had needed to help me up more than once.

"We know the theory," I agreed. "That just because you know the events of one timeline doesn't mean you have foreknowledge of what's going to happen in this one. I've known for a long time that the more changes I made, the less certain the future would become. A long time ago, I wondered if I should wait, make no changes at all, then pounce at an opportune time and destroy Voldemort once and for all."

Harry thought about that for a bit, then shook his head. "But then you wouldn't be my dad. I'd still be with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. And Sirius would still be in jail. And all kinds of other stuff."

"Right. I decided I couldn't just sit on my hands. But there are consequences," I said, pausing to stamp a bit of snow that had gotten onto my pants after my latest spill off.

"Like Uncle Dumbledore dying," Harry said quietly.

"Yeah. Like that."

We walked along in silence for a while, until Harry stopped, looking pained. I paused as well, and after a moment put my arm around his shoulders. Harry leaned into me, and I could see tears glistening in his eyes. "Can we still win?"

"Of course kiddo," I assured him, hugging my son tight to my chest. "Dumbledore died before Tom was finally defeated in those books too. And this time, he did even more first. He gathered and destroyed all the Horcruxes, save the Diary, and even got all the Deathly Hallows together."

"What are those, anyway?" Harry asked, concerned. "I mean, you talked about his +10 wand of death before, that's the Master Wand you said. But what are the others?"

"The Cloak of Invisibility and the Resurrection Stone," I said quietly. "The Hollows are Cursed items though. The Stone killed Dumbledore."

Harry stiffened, then looked up at me. "What?"

I sighed. "They're all cursed in some way. There's an old legend that explains it, I don't remember the whole thing. We can probably find a copy in the library. But essentially, the Deathly Hallows were gifts from Death. The Wand is a weapon that cannot be beaten. The Stone allows you to communicate with the dead. And the Cloak gives perfect concealment. But they're all Cursed in some way."

"For the Wand, you can probably figure out the curse, Harry," I said as we started walking along again.

Harry considered it, then nodded. "He who lives by the Sword, dies by the Sword."

"Exactly. Having a supremely powerful weapon paints a target on your back. Sure, you're unbeatable in a fair fight, but people will resort to trickery, poison, and ambush. The Master Wand doesn't protect from a knife in the dark. And as for the Stone, well, think about it. You can talk with the dead. What do you think they say?"

"Nothing good," Harry muttered, shivering. It could have just been just the cold, but his ruddy face had gone slightly pale. "Like Saul calling up the spirit of Samuel in the Bible. That was pretty bad. I mean, in DnD it's just a spell, but in real life...talking with dead people can't be good for you."

"They lure you to death. You long to be with them, long to touch and feel them again. But you cannot, for they are simply shades," I said, gazing off into the distance, my eyes unfocused. I imagined speaking with my own long gone family and friends. They might not be dead, of course, but they may as well be, as separated as we were. Shoot, I'd settle just for speaking with Dumbledore again, to find out the secrets he'd unlocked that had made him so certain they were close to a real discovery.

"And the Cloak?" Harry asked.

"That one's not as obvious," I said, stroking my beard. It was still thick and black, though my hair on top was thinning and I'd started to find grey hairs. "But it only conceals you. Once you break the concealment, it's useless. So, the only way to use it is to spend your whole life hiding. And if you do that, well, you may as well do nothing at all."

"So why are they important then?" Harry asked. "They sound powerful, but really dangerous. Like the Hand of Venca or something."

"They were used to defeat Voldemort, who had escaped Death," I said in a somewhat evasive fashion. "His Horcruxes made him immune to most conventional means of killing him. But with all three Deathly Hallows, he could be defeated."

"I thought all the Horcruxes were destroyed," Harry said, confused.

I smiled, my eyes straying to his forehead, which as usual Harry had covered with a ball cap, this one a dark black. "Not all of them. Not until the very end. And the last was the hardest to destroy of all."

Harry frowned, clearly puzzled. "Well what was it?"

I sighed, kneeling down. I carefully removed Harry's hat, and laid a finger on his scar.

Harry's eyes widened. "No! I thought...but…"

"You've known for a while that you had a bit of Tom's soul in you," I said, putting my hands on Harry's shoulders. "That was the last thing anchoring Tom's mortal coil. Using the Deathly Hallows, book Harry was able to kill Voldemort and remove the bit of his soul trapped in his forehead. But...but it was costly. It nearly killed him."

Harry began to cry, and I pulled him into a tight hug. "It'll be OK kiddo. We'll find a way to stop Tom. And if all else fails, we have the Hallows now."

"Ok, dad," Harry agreed.

And for a moment, it had seemed like everything would be OK.

But now, Harry sat beside me, his eyes red and puffy, his cheeks wet with tears, as mourners shuffled by the casket where Dumbledore's body lay. And God help me, I couldn't think of how things were going to be OK. The original plan had been complicated, and had barely worked only thanks to a Deus ex Machina.

"God, please, if there is anyway, spare the life of my son," I prayed, clutching Libra's hand tightly. I would pay any price. Even that of my own life. Maybe that was why I'd been called here. To be the sacrifice, instead of Harry. But a large part of me knew that was just wishful thinking.

Dumbledore lay in state all day, from before sunrise until after Sunset. There were still hordes of mourners, and despite the massive seating there wasn't enough space to seat everyone. And so, we carried the body out to the Hogwarts grounds, past the long lines of mourners, to a space that had been made at the edge of the lake. A tomb had been constructed there, made of gleaming white marble. Now, in torch and firelight, it had the red cast of blood.

The speeches were kept mercifully short. Mai spoke, as did Amelia Bones, and Minerva, and half a dozen other wizarding bigwigs. The speeches were moving and touching and all the other things they should have been, a tribute to the man who had been. I had a hard time focusing enough to really get much out of it. I was too busy comforting my own family, and dealing with my grief to take much notice.

Then they placed Dumbledore in the tomb. It was sealed with powerful binding spells, and shut up tight. And as the stone door closed, I couldn't help but feel it buried the past, and the future I had thought I'd known.


	46. Chapter 46

Christmas was a much less joyous affair that year. While my younger children were still excited to get their presents the next morning (they'd all fallen asleep too soon to open one on Christmas Eve), Libra and I struggled to smile and show our usual delight at seeing our children happy. Harry was quiet and moody, and didn't seem all that excited about the Nimbus 2000 that Sirius had gifted him. He only took it out for a ride after Sarah wouldn't stop begging him, but kept it low and slow. I didn't even find it in me to protest, only smiling and nodding and telling him to be careful when he took it out.

To my surprise, church was rather well attended in Hogsmeade that morning. Father Andrew was still around, having been the one to perform the funeral service, and held Christmas services in the wedding Chapel before it was finally torn down.

"Most years, I only talk about the good in Christmas," Andrew said, pacing back and forth slowly on the stage. "I talk about how the world receives the greatest gift when Christ came to Earth, how heaven and earth rejoiced and angels sang for shepherds."

He paused, slowly turning on his heel to scan the audience. "But I'm not the only one who doesn't feel much like a party, this particular Christmas. So, I'm going to speak on the other side of Christmas. The one we don't tend to dwell much on. Christ came, yes. But he came to die."

The vast hall was quiet, only a few muffled sobs and whimpers. Andrew turned to face the cross that had been erected above the altar, but magic projected his voice just as well as if he'd faced us.

"Christ lived to die. He was born knowing where his destination lay: to be killed in a brutal, inhumane fashion for the sins of the world. We celebrate not just that our Savior was born, but that our sacrificial lamb at last had come to bridge the gap that sin had made."

"Death haunts us all. On this day in particular, we mourn for Albus Dumbledore, a great man, one who taught umpteen numbers of students here at Hogwarts. A good man, a kind man, a man who dedicated his life to bettering his fellow man."

Andrew slowly turned about again. Pacing up to the lectern, he placed his hands upon it. "A man. Who is now dead. And one who I can only pray is not dead eternally."

"You see, for all the good he did, for all the greatness he attained in his life, Dumbledore was just a man. He will not rise again, save for when trumpet sounds and we are one and all called to judgement. But for the birth and death of Christ, that trumpet would be only the sound of doom, of the condemnation of an entire world for the sin and corruption that festers in each of our hearts."

"But unlike Dumbledore, Christ did rise again. He triumphed over Satan, Sin, and Death itself. He lived to die, but in dying he raised us all from Death. He did what no spell nor potion can do: he granted us all Eternal Life."

There was a stirring amidst the crowd, and Father Andrew raised his hand to quiet them. "I know, of course, of the Famous Mr. Flamel, who is here in this very room. I must also inform you, that last night, after the funeral, I spoke with him at length. He is weary of the world. He plans to destroy his Stone, and move on again. Alchemy is not the path to eternal life."

A man who appeared to be in his sixties, but who I couldn't have put a firm age upon, nodded from the front row. A woman of equally mysterious age sat next to him, and patted his hand. A woman in her early thirties with a brood of children and her husband sat next to them, and, to my shock, Snape.

"Look not to my art for eternal life," Flamell called. "My life has been long, and good, but I am growing weary of life. Save for my beloved Perenelle, all I have known and loved have died. My children, their children, and all my friends are gone. I have seen what this life has to offer, and it is not enough. I am tired. Come to New Year, the Stone shall be destroyed. It was the last wish of Albus. He knew the danger the Stone posed, and throughout my life, too many have attempted to claim it for themselves and brought those I love to grief, including the parents of Sophia, my last living relative."

"I have never been able to copy the Stone, despite many attempts. And what I paid to create it...it is not a price worth paying. Do not walk my path to seek eternal life. Put your trust elsewhere. I shall."

That caused quite a stir. The rest of the sermon was interesting enough, but I had more than enough to chew on. The Philosopher's Stone was to be destroyed. Few paths for Tom's resurrection remained. What did that mean?

I didn't have too long to ponder it. The day after Christmas, myself, Harry, and Libra, were called to the Headmaster's office by Minerva.

"The Headmaster's final affairs are being set to rights," McGonagall said. "And, it should come as no surprise that your family features heavily in his last Will and Testament."

McGonagall retrieved a small package from beneath the desk and pass it to Harry. "This was to be yours this Christmas, young man, but I believe it is best you receive it with the rest now."

Harry slowly opened it, to reveal silky black cloth within. His eyes went wide, and he looked to me.

I nodded. "Go ahead."

Harry wrapped it around his arm, which vanished. "The Cloak of Invisibility," Harry murmured. He looked to McGonagall, his eyes suddenly ravenous. "Do I get the Master Wand and Resurrection stone as well?"

McGonagall pursed her lips. "The wand has passed to another. As for the Stone. Well."

From a drawer. McGonagall retrieved a small paper-wrapped package, which she delicately sat on the old wood of the desktop. "For you, Mr. Murphy."

Harry reached for it, but McGonagall swatted his hand. "Not you, young man. Your father."

"Me?" I said, shocked. "But I can't even use it! I'm a muggle, remember, and one that magic REALLY doesn't get along with."

"And I believe that will make you a most excellent caretaker," McGonagall said. "Now please, take this wretched thing from me, that I might be tempted no more."

Gingerly, I carefully took the package and stowed it in my jacket pocket. "I'll keep it hidden." I was making plans to hide the thing in Harry's vault until he needed it, but I'd have to talk it over with Libra first.

"And for you, Mrs. Murphy," McGonagall said, drawing out a large embossed tome.

"Tales of Beedle the Bard?" Libra asked, sounding puzzled as she accepted it from McGonagall. "But whatever for?"

"That's...interesting," I mused, eyeing the book.

Libra eyed me expectantly, while Harry sat up eagerly. McGonagall, however, let out a heavy sigh. "What is it, Mr. Murphy?"

"Dumbledore gave this book as a gift in his last will and testament in...well, the other timeline," I explained. "But he didn't give it to Libra. He gave it, well, to one of Harry's friends. It was rather important and significant."

"Don't hold us in suspense, Professor. Please, enlighten us," McGonagall said in tones that indicated she'd put up with just about enough mysteries for a lifetime.

I nodded to the Cloak. "The Deathly Hallows."

"Ah." McGonagall sat back, eyeing the three of us. "So, you receive two of the three, and the tale of their origin. I must confess, for a long time I considered the Hallows no more than a myth, but…" Uncharacteristically, McGonagall appeared guilty and nervous, and her eyes strayed to my coat pocket.

"You took the Stone," I said quietly, touching my hand to where it was hidden. "What did you see?"

McGonagall looked away, and tears slid down her cheek. "My late husband. And Albus as well. It is not…" Taking a deep, shuddering breath, McGonagall wiped away her tears, then fixed me with a piercing stare. "That Stone is a trap, Mr. Murphy. It killed Albus. If I kept it, it would kill me as well. The living are not meant to dwell amidst the dead."

Harry looked at the cloak in his lap with horror. "They're cursed. They're all cursed!" he held the cloak up to me. "Take it, dad. Please."

Reluctantly, I took the Cloak, running the smooth fabric through my fingers. It was a bit like silk, but more slippery somehow.

"Dad!" Harry exclaimed excitedly. "Look!"

I looked down and saw that part of my hand, which was wrapped in the Cloak, had vanished. I quickly took it out, then folded the Cloak up and shoved it in my pocket. "Yeah, best not to have that lying about I guess."

"No! The magic, it affected you!" Harry said excitedly, pointing. "Nothing ever has before!"

"Not quite. The magic didn't affect me, precisely. I could stand behind an illusory wall and see through it, but if you put up a real wall and made it invisible by bending the light I'd walk right into it. The Cloak disappears, and I disappear when I'm behind it. Nothing more," I said.

"Oh." Harry looked slightly crestfallen at that, but then turned back to McGonagall. "Anything else? Did he have, you know, some advice for getting the Horcrux out of me or whatever?"

"Severus and I are going through Albus' notes now," McGonagall said. "So far, we have discovered nothing. When I...spoke with Albus...he said...well, he gave me some clues of where to look. But I shan't take that thing up again. It's too risky."

I nodded. "Yeah, I have to agree. But, what now? Dumbledore shielded me from the Board and the Ministry. Without him, can I keep my job?"

"There is little worry when it comes to that," McGonagall said. "The last real opponent to the school employing a muggle was Lucius Malfoy, and as he was ignominiously exiled, anyone who agreed too loudly with his former opinions would be seen as a traitor. Your position and that of your family here is secure, Mr. Murphy."

"So you support my husband retaining his position?" Libra asked.

McGonagall peered at me over her spectacles. "For now. We shall see what the NEWT and OWL scores come out to be at the end of term." Then she gave Libra a warm smile. "But considering he is the man who wrote the curriculum, I have few worries in that regard. Now, if you will forgive me, there is much to do. I have a great many things to which I must see, and little time to do them in. There shall be a staff meeting tomorrow morning where we go over our plans for the semester. I expect the both of you to be in attendance."

We made our goodbyes and left, quietly making our way down the stairs. While little about the office had changed in the few days since McGonagall had taken over, there had been one notable change: All throughout our meeting, the portrait of the former Headmaster had benignly smiled down upon us from a place of honor right above the Headmistresses. Gone, but certainly not forgotten.

As we made our way through the halls, we bumped into Father Andrew, walking quietly along with a sheaf of parchment under his arm.

"Morning, Father," I said, nodding to him.

"Good morning, Professor," the priest said, extending his free hand to me and then to my family. "And you, Mrs. Murphy. And how are you doing today, young man?"

LIbra said a polite nothing, while Harry shrugged and looked down at his boots, scuffing them on the floor. I rested a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I think we've all been hit hard by the loss of Dumbledore."

"Yes, even for those of us who left Hogwarts behind us many years ago, it is difficult," Andrew said, sighing and nodding. He was a few years older than myself, on the far side of forty and even more balding than I was, with nut brown wispy hair that was going grey in patches. Today he wore a rather standard wizarding robe, though he also had his ecumenical collar on.

"Do you have plans for dinner tonight?" Libra asked. "We'd love for you and your wife to join us. You married Pygmalion Trelawny, didn't you?"

"Yes, we've been staying with her aunt Sybill in the castle the past few days," Andrew said, making a slight face. "It was more convenient, what with first the wedding, then the funeral, and now all the other arrangements."

I laughed. "As much as I respect my esteemed colleague, Sybill can be quite the experience, and in high doses...Well, that would be something. Isn't your son in Ravenclaw? Mark Andrew in 3rd year?"

"Yes, though he isn't taking your rather excellent course this year I'm afraid. He's rather come to regret it. While I myself am a muggle born, Mark rather lacks experience on that side. But yes, Pygmalion and I would love to join to join you."

"Bring your son as well, it would be good for Harry to have someone to talk to," Libra said, prodding Harry.

"He's a beater for Ravenclaw, isn't he?" Harry asked, perking up slightly.

"I'm afraid he is, much to the befuddlement of his parents," Father Andrew laughed. "Neither his mother or I were ever much in the way of athletes. His other aunt, Pandora, was quite the quidditch fiend back in the day, though you'd never know it now."

"Come over about six then, we'll be having chicken stew. I'm sure our oldest daughter Sarah would love to hear Mark's quidditch tales as well," Libra said. "And it will be good to have a fellow believer over. I'm afraid we feel quite isolated in our faith here."

"I understand," Father Andrew said with a nod. "I've endeavor to spread the Gospel amidst my fellow wizards, but alas, what need for God have those who consider themselves gods? We'll see you at six then."

"Why don't you make some of those American style biscuits to have with the stew, dear," Libra said once we got home. "They'll go nicely with the strawberry preserves Molly gave us for Christmas."

"Sure thing. Marie, you want to help daddy make some biscuits?"

"Yep!" Marie happily help me mix in the butter and bacon grease, getting flower everywhere. While the biscuits cooked, we colored in one of her Disney coloring books she'd gotten for Christmas. Aladdin had come out the month before, and of course Marie and her sister were smitten with Jasmine now, Belle all but forgotten in the distant mists of time after they'd gone to see Aladdin with Molly and Ginny.

For now, Marie wasn't concerned that she had to hold Sarah's hand when they floo'd somewhere, just as her mother did. In a few years, she'd start to realize she had none of the magic that her older siblings, or even her little brother, did. At this moment though, she was simply a happy 3 year old girl who was getting to spend some quality time with her father and color a tiger.

The Andrew's showed up at precisely 6 o'clock, with Pygmalion bringing a vanilla custard she'd made for "pudding." Thankfully, my kids didn't argue with her, figuring that custard was what they thought of as pudding in addition to being desert. Dinner was quite good, with even the Brits enjoying the Americanized biscuits.

After dinner, Harry, Sarah and Mark talked quidditch and admired Harry's broom. it was dark, with a light snow falling so they didn't get to try it out. Marie and James were put to bed early, and didn't protest too much.

"Oh, Tim, look at this, a first edition of Beedle the Bard," Pygmalion remarked when we sat down around the coffee table with warm drinks. "That brings back memories for us, doesn't it?"

"It rather does," Father Andrew said, smiling and picking the book up from the coffee table. He flipped expertly to the Tale of the Three Brothers. "You do remember our little club from back in our school days I trust? You, your sister, and your two admirers."

"You were interested in the lore behind the Hallows?" Libra asked, setting down a tray with hot tea. I'd taken to drinking it warm instead of iced, as the climate of Scotland fit that version of the beverage much better.

"Oh yes, my sister and her husband still are as a matter of fact," Pygmalion agreed. "I believe you were actually interviewed by Xenophilius a few months back, in regards to the...incident...with your family."

"We were," Libra agreed. "But I confess, my husband and I recently became rather interested in the lore behind the Hallows. What can you tell us?"

"Oh a great deal I suppose," Father Andrew said, setting the book back on the coffee table. "You of course will know the basics, that there were three brothers, given three artefacts by Death. What you might not know is that they were the Peverell brothers, and they were in fact real historical figures from the 13th century. They were most remarkable in that they were the last confirmed figures to interact or be gifted with what is often referred to as Elder Magic."

"Elder magic?" Libra asked, looking startled. She glanced at me. "We've heard that term before, in relation to a turtle from Hawaii. That's how we met Akeakamai, in fact."

"The Supreme Mugwump? Why, that's remarkable! And yes, the Hawaiians do indeed have a few remaining Elder Beings, though they are all considered lesser manifestations. Honu in particular is rather well documented. If you've met him, consider yourself very lucky my dear," Father Andrew said.

"Wait, that reptile is in the same league as objects supposedly from Death itself?" I asked in confusion.

"More or less, yes," Pygmalion agreed. "Elder Honu is possesses with ancient magics, and has great control over the oceans and even the Hawaiian islands themselves. His domain includes growth and life, mostly of fish and animals. His song has been shown to increase the spread of marine life, and plant life both on sea and land. It also seems to be involved with quieting volcanic eruptions in the region."

"If you really wish to learn more about him though, you're better off speaking with the Hawaiians themselves," Father Andrew put in. "I've actually read a few books Akeakamai and her mother wrote on the subject some years past, so she would be a primary source rather than what I could relay to you."

"But how does Elder Honu relate to the Deathly Hallows?" Libra asked.

"Well, it has mostly to do with the source of his power. You see, most magic, what is typically referred to as common or modern magic, stems from-"

I spied a small face peeking out from the stairway, and excused myself as Andrew continued on to Libra. I found a very guilty looking Marie blinking up at me.

"What's going on kiddo?" I asked gently, and bent down to pick her up. I quickly discovered exactly what the problem was, as she was soaking wet.

"Sorry daddy," Marie whimpered.

"It's ok, kiddo, it's ok. Call Dobby for me, would you?"

Dobby appeared at Marie's call, and was more than happy to magically switch the bedsheets. I comforted Marie and put her back to bed. As I was walking back towards the stairs, I spied my jacket hung up in the master bedroom. I paused and reached into the pocket, pulling out the wrapped resurrection stone.

Hesitantly, I unwrapped the stone, holding it in the paper. It was a black gem, about the size of a tangerine, shaped like an octahedron, but somehow wrong. It seemed to wrap in on itself, and my eyes couldn't trace its lines, which seemed to shift if you stared at them too long. Slowly, I reached out one trembling finger to touch it.

Ice ran through my veins the instant my skin contacted the Stone, and my finger seemed to freeze in place. Darkness clouded my vision, and I began to shiver uncontrollably as a deep sense of wrongness filled my mind. My eyes darted back and forth, and my heart raced as my breaths came in shuddering gasps. What was going on? I tried to shout, but couldn't manage it.

"Ah, David. I am so glad this worked out as I planned."

Before me, a shape formed. And I saw the face of a dead man.


End file.
